Sometimes It Be That Way
by Trixi Summers
Summary: Ginny Weasley gets pregnant and Hermione helps her deal with the consequences.
1. The Beginning of a Memory

**Sometimes It Be That Way** …The Beginning of a Memory

*

'They say that Jesus loves you…

Well, what about me?'

~ Jewel, _Jesus Loves You_

*

That day was one that Hermione would never forget. Indeed, it could never have been erased from her memory, even if she had been tortured by the Dark Lord for all eternity and had lost all her memory. That picture of the red-haired girl standing on her doorstep of her house in the suburbs outside of London one night.

Hermione remembered she had been reading a book on the couch in the living room. She had been waiting for her parents to come home for dinner and was eating an apple. The sky outside had already darkened considerably and in the back of her mind she wondered if she should cook her own supper just in case they didn't come home until very late.

She had been reading a particularly interesting passage in the book about ancient magic forms when the doorbell rang. Assuming that it wasn't her parents since they would have obviously used their keys, she put down the book and went to the door to open it.

The sky outside was quite clear and millions of stars could be seen. The air was cool and crisp despite the fact that it was only the beginning of summer. But that wasn't what had startled her. It was the fact that the youngest sibling of the Weasleys and their only daughter was standing on the front porch, her eyes red and puffy and an extremely nervous look on her face that startled her.

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I had no where else to go," Ginny half-sobbed. She looked at the street and asked anxiously, "Can I come in?"

Hermione jumped and recollected her manners. She opened the door wider and said, "Yes, of course, come in, come in." Ginny moved into the foyer a little nervously, as if some odd monster was going to pop out at her and devour her alive. "Would you like anything to drink?" Hermione asked, bringing her into the kitchen at the end of the foyer. 

Ginny sat down at a stool that was situated at the counter. She shook her head and said, "No, I'm fine."

"Okay," Hermione mumbled. She herself sat down across from Ginny on a stool. Somehow, she could feel the intensity of this situation weigh in on her ominously as if it was going to crush her and Ginny. She looked down at her hands, which were clenched together, and wondered whether it would be appropriate if she broke the silence that seemed to be stretching to great distances between them. After awhile, she decided she should let Ginny tell her whatever it was that Ginny had come here to tell her. She looked up and examined her friend's face intently.

Ginny somehow looked older and more mature. The skin on her face seemed to be stretched, as if it didn't fit her anymore. The only skin that wasn't tight was the bags under her eyes, showing the fact that she seemed to have lost at least a little bit of sleep. Her mouth was stretched into a thin line as well, and her hair looked ragged, unkempt.

The air was tense around Ginny. She seemed as if she was about to explode about something, or as if she had this dark secret that she desperately wanted to tell everyone only she couldn't. After a longer silence, Hermione started to wonder if the Dark Lord had taken hold of Ginny again and was controlling her, something that Ginny had been all too familiar with in the past.

When finally Ginny spoke, her lips seemed to stretch further. Her eyes filled up with tears and her voice became a little husky. "I had no where else to go," she started again. "There was no where else I could turn to. My family wouldn't understand. I couldn't possibly tell them. You were the only one I thought of telling this to."

Hermione listened, patiently waiting for what Ginny had to say. She didn't want to rush her in fear of making her feel not wanted. She cocked her head to one side and waited out the small silence that seemed to grow out of Ginny's misery.

"I've been lying awake for a while now," Ginny began again, satisfied that she could continue on without breaking down, "debating on what I should do and what I should tell everyone. I don't want them to see me for the screw-up I seemed to be after my first year. I don't want people to baby me or think that I couldn't take care of myself. I don't want them to stay away from me, expecting me to grow horns and fangs and chase them, trying to eat them.

"To them, I'm just a little girl who will never grow up, never become someone, and never survive. They think that all I'll do is screw up again, and I proved them right."

She lapsed into silence again, tears running down her cheeks. The way she talked was almost disturbing. To Hermione, she sounded as if she were going crazy. She decided she had to ask Ginny what she meant. She couldn't bear the curiosity any longer.

"Please," she said gently, taking one of Ginny's hands in hers. "Tell me what has gotten you so upset." When Ginny didn't answer, but only continued to stare at something on the counter, she prodded further. "Ginny? What's wrong?"

Ginny finally looked straight at Hermione, the first time she had done since she arrived that night. Her eyes were wide and full of fear. She shook her head, probably at something she had just thought, or else it was at Hermione's question. But she took a deep, shaky breath and said in a strangely calm voice for someone who was about to break down, "I'm pregnant." She shook her head again and more fresh tears fell down her cheeks. "I'm pregnant," she then sobbed. She put her head into her hands and broke down completely.

Hermione felt as if she couldn't move. Now, she understood why the air had seemed so heavy and tense, and it shocked her immensely to find out that Ginny Weasley was pregnant. She quickly got hold of her bearings though and went to comfort Ginny, taking her in her arms and letting the younger girl sob. She stroked her hair soothingly and sat on a stool beside Ginny's to get more comfortable. She rocked back and forth with Ginny in her arms, trying to think of something to say. But for once, words failed her and she fell to just comforting Ginny.


	2. Bitterness in the Face of Life

…Bitterness in the Face of Life

*

It was awhile before Ginny had calmed down completely. Hermione led her into the living room and sat her down on the couch, sitting down beside her. Ginny looked at the book laid out on the coffee table in front of her and smiled, albeit weakly. She turned the cover so that she could read it more clearly and read aloud, "_Good Magic: a Complete Witch's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft." She looked up at Hermione, a bit of bitterness in her smile. "Background reading, I'm guessing?"_

Hermione nodded and leaned back against the couch. She drew her legs up to her chest and folded her arms around them, pinning them close to her body. She watched as the smile on Ginny's face slowly disappeared and she too leaned back. "If you don't want to, you don't have to answer this question," Hermione began gently, "but who's the father?"

"He's an idiot who didn't even care about me," Ginny responded immediately, bitterness displayed in her tone so openly. "He doesn't even know that I'm pregnant." She paused again before beginning more forcefully this time. "How could I tell him after what he did to me? He probably wouldn't even care. All he was doing was trying to get me for the sex, and I fell for it. I actually fell for that bastard, thinking he was the best thing in the world that could ever happen to me, that he was someone who cared about me immensely. But that wasn't even the case."

"Ginny," Hermione breathed, a nervous dread creeping into her. "Who's the father?"

Ginny looked at her again like she did before when they were in the kitchen. Her eyes were full of misery and defensiveness and challenging. She looked straight into Hermione's eyes and said calmly, "Why, it's your best friend Harry Potter, of course."

Hermione sighed, happy that she hadn't said that the father was Draco Malfoy. But when she realized what exactly Ginny _had said, her blood nearly froze. The dread that had been creeping into her exploded and she mumbled blearily, "Oh my God."_

Ginny suddenly stood up, fury in her posture, and started pacing around the room. "You wouldn't think it to look at him, but that bastard is more of a bastard than either of us ever knew. He was just using me for the sex, that's all it was. He said so the next day. I couldn't believe it. I nearly ripped him to pieces for doing that to me. I thought he really did love me."

"I thought you were over your crush on Harry," Hermione said a little bit too forcefully, looking up at Ginny's shaking form in something close to anger.

"I was," Ginny shouted defensively. She stopped shaking and calmed down somewhat before saying, "He turned it around on me. He made me love him again. And it was all for one lousy romp in the sack." She shook her head sadly and said, "We didn't even use protection. Perhaps if we did, I wouldn't be carrying his child, his baby." She sat back down on the couch beside Hermione.

"Are you sure you're pregnant?" Hermione whispered, looking at a spot on the floor. "Maybe it's just some kind of fluke."

"No," Ginny replied, again forcefully. "It is not 'some kind of a fluke'. This is for real. After I started throwing up, I went to Madam Pomfrey to see what was wrong and she was the one who told me I was pregnant in the first place."

Hermione gave a curt nod, even though Ginny wasn't looking at her. She was looking at something on the carpet, another faraway look in her eyes. She looked away from Ginny. 

She couldn't help feeling angry at Harry. After awhile, she decided that she was not angry, but was furious. She could not believe he had done such a thing and had used Ginny as well. She had always thought that Harry had thought of Ginny as a friend and as Ron's sister, not some trash he could use to sleep with when he was feeling down. She couldn't even begin to believe that Harry would even sleep with a whore, or at least something to that extent.

It wasn't as if she thought Ginny was a whore or a slut. Ginny was far from that, even if she did have a way of going from one guy to another, searching for love. She knew that if Ginny ever had sex with a guy, she would have protection and would only sleep with the guy when she felt ready. But Harry basically treated her as if she had been some slut off the streets, by the sounds of it.

She looked up at Ginny and saw that she was sitting straight-backed and unusually still. Her eyes were transfixed on the same spot on the carpet she had been staring at when Hermione had last looked at her, but the way she stared at the spot made Hermione feel a little wigged out.

"Would-- would you like to stay here?" Hermione asked, her voice low.

Ginny tensed even more. She seemed to be debating it since a silence stilled the room. Then, she nodded. "Yes, I would," she finally said, not looking at Hermione. Bitterness crept into her voice again. "Lord knows that I'll never be able to face my family when they hear about this."


	3. Permission

…Permission

*

'Believe me Adia, we are still innocent.' 

~ Sarah McLachlan, _Adia_

*

Hermione plopped the box of cereal down onto the counter, her mind still reeling with the information from last night's events. She had let Ginny sleep on her bed while she slept on the couch in the living room. The whole night, she tossed and turned, going from sleepiness to restlessness in five seconds. She couldn't bear to think that Harry had done something of that magnitude to Ginny and wanted to confront him about it, but Ginny had made her swear under oath not to tell Harry until she was sure she was ready to deal with his questions.

Hermione's parents hadn't come home until one in the morning. She knew this because she had been awake at the time, trying to sleep during one of her restless periods. They snuck through the door quietly, thinking Hermione asleep in her bedroom. They didn't even notice that she was sleeping on the couch, but immediately went to bed, turning all the remaining lights off. Hermione resolved to tell them about Ginny in the morning, and as her mother went into the kitchen to turn that light off, she briefly wondered how it had been like for her when she had found out that she had been pregnant with Hermione.

As Hermione poured some milk into her cereal, Ginny came into the kitchen looking distinctly ruffled. Her hair was still ragged and now stuck up all over her head, making her look a little bit like Pippy Longstockings. But her eyes looked a little bit brighter that morning and she seemed a little bit more cheerful than when she had come the night before. She sat on the same stool she had been sitting on when she had first come into the kitchen the evening before and looked at Hermione.

"Did- did you tell your parents yet?" she asked, a little bit of hesitancy in her voice.

Hermione sighed and said, "No, they got home too late last night. Apparently they were out at a friend's house after work. Friday nights are usually like that."

"Oh," Ginny mumbled, propping her chin on her wrist. "So, do you think they'll let me stay?"

"Probably," Hermione told her, giving her a small smile. "They're not usually ones to turn others away, especially when those others need it most." She fetched a bowl for Ginny and poured her some cereal and milk.

Ginny looked at the bowl of cereal doubtfully, watching as the oatmeal and flakes absorbed the milk. "What is this?" she asked.

"Cereal," Hermione said simply. "Eat it. You'll find that it's very good. It's a new brand: _Oatmeal Crisp_. This is Maple Nut, therefore it tastes like maple syrup, yet you are still getting all the nutrition you need."

After looking at the bowl doubtfully again for a couple of seconds, Ginny sighed and pulled it closer to her. She took the spoon and stuck some of the cereal into her mouth. After a while of chewing, she nodded, satisfied. "You're right," she said when she had swallowed it down. "That is good."

Hermione grinned. "See?" she asked. "I told you."

Ginny giggled and Hermione basked in the pleasure of being able to make her laugh at a time like this. But she knew it was easy to make Ginny laugh for she never stayed depressed for long.

The moment was short lived, for Hermione's mother, Caroline, had stepped into the kitchen. Her hair was up that morning, and she smiled a good morning to Hermione and Ginny and went to pour herself a coffee. Hermione looked nervously at Ginny at the fact that Caroline hadn't seemed to mind the fact that Ginny was there, but Ginny just kept on eating her breakfast.

"Maman," Hermione started nervously, adopting the French nickname she and her mother had started using after they had seen the movie _Chocolat. _

"Oui?" Caroline asked, looking at her from the coffee maker. Hermione saw that Ginny was becoming preoccupied with the coffee maker, watching as it a trickle of the dark liquid started to come down into the coffee pot. Caroline looked at Ginny, who had now forgotten about the cereal and was staring open-mouthed as the coffee pot began to fill with coffee. "Oh! Ginny, I didn't know you were here! My, my, where are my manners? Good morning, Ginny. How nice to see you again." Ginny smiled at her nervously.

"Maman," Hermione began again. "The reason Ginny is here is not because—well, I don't know how to tell you, but—um…"

Ginny looked away from the coffee maker and took over. "It's okay, Hermione, I'll tell her," she said, her voice calm. She turned to Caroline and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

The effect was amazing. The coffee mug Caroline was holding fell to the floor, resulting in a great clatter. It smashed into a thousand pieces while Caroline stared at Ginny, aghast. "You're… what?" she asked slowly, trying to get used to the idea.

"I'm pregnant," Ginny repeated, although Hermione could tell that it lacked the confidence she had shown when she had first told Caroline the news. Ginny then went on to tell Caroline everything she had told Hermione –except leaving the 'bastard' part out and keeping the identity of the father a secret. Caroline just stood there, her hands clenching onto the counter for dear life, as if she was afraid that if she let go, she would fall over. She calmed somewhat during the rest of Ginny's explanation.

"Alright," Caroline said after a moment's silence. She let go of the counter and straightened herself. She stepped around the broken mug to get another one from the cupboard while Hermione muttered a spell to repair it. Caroline then picked the mug up and held it consideringly, before putting it on the counter beside the sink and filling the new mug with coffee as soon as the coffee pot had been filled up with the amount she had wanted. She looked up suddenly, a questioningly look on her face. "Did you want to stay here for a while?"

Ginny nodded, a smile brightening her face. "That would be great," she said. "Thank you."

Caroline smiled in return and Hermione nearly died of relief.


	4. The Nightmare

…the Nightmare

*

'But never more than a memory.' ~ Aragorn, _the Lord of the Rings: the __Two__Towers_

*

That day, the Grangers tried to make Ginny feel as comfortable as they could. Indeed, they went out immediately and bought another bed to put in Hermione's room with sheets and a bed spread that matched the colour of the mattress. They ordered it to be delivered immediately, and it came later that day, the delivery people struggling to fit the box spring through the door and around a sharp corner that led to the corridor the rooms were on.

Hermione cleaned her room, making it as tidy as possible, while Ginny sat on her new bed and watched her progress, occasionally getting up to help Hermione move things. After a while of cleaning, Hermione stood back and surveyed the room before starting to move things again, this time deciding that the beds should be moved so that the girls could talk to each other, but also have space in the middle of the room. They ended up placing Hermione's bed against the wall underneath the window and Ginny's bed next to the closet with a long night table in between.

Once they were finished moving the beds to their new position, they fell onto Ginny's bed to take a rest. Hermione sighed and rolled over to face Ginny, whose eyes were closed. She heard her friend fall into a regular breathing pattern and deduced that Ginny was asleep, so she crept off the bed and went onto hers, giving Ginny some space.

It must have been eight o'clock at night when Ginny began to cry out in her sleep. While Hermione was reading some more of _Good Magic_, she noted that Ginny had been tossing and turning. So, she hadn't been surprised when Ginny had suddenly cried out, "No! Don't take my baby! Don't you ever take my baby!"

Hermione had jumped off her bed at once, laying her book carefully on the floor, and jumped onto Ginny's bed. Ginny moaned and rolled over, hitting Hermione in the thigh with her elbow. Hermione took hold of Ginny's shoulders and gently shook her awake. Ginny yelled a few more things that didn't make any sense before gasping and waking up. She took a deep breath and put a hand to her forehead before looking at Hermione.

"That was just a dream, right?" she asked her, her voice shaky and fright in her eyes.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, that was just a dream," she assured her. She watched as tears sprang to Ginny's eyes again and began to fall down her cheeks. She was crying again, and Hermione felt helpless to stop it or give any words of comfort. So, instead, she took Ginny into her arms and held her tight, rocking her back and forth to sooth the crying and get Ginny back to sleep.

"I'm scared," Ginny moaned into Hermione's shoulder. "I'm so scared. I'm pregnant and going to have a baby. That has got to be the scariest thing in the world."

"Next to Voldemort, of course," Hermione said, smiling bitterly. If only the war against Voldemort could only just stop and Voldemort would go away, never more than a memory.

"No," Ginny said, shaking her head against Hermione's shoulder. "No, I don't think so. Somehow, having a baby is scarier for me. I don't know why, but it just is. For once, I don't even care about Voldemort. All I care about is the fact that I'm probably going to be a terrible mother."

"You are not going to be a terrible mother," Hermione told her, stroking her hair. "Besides, you have me to help you. Just think. This baby is going to be so lucky to be brought up by you." She could feel Ginny's tense shoulders relax a little and she herself relaxed. That summer was going to be a long summer.


	5. A Day in the City

…A Day in the City

*

'You need to find yourself a girl, mate! Or, perhaps the reason you practice three hours a day is that you already found one, and are otherwise incapable of wooing said strumpet. You're not a eunuch, are you?'

~ Jack Sparrow, _Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl_

*

The next day, Hermione decided to introduce Ginny to a little something called the Muggle World. She pulled Ginny out of bed at 7 am and gave her a pair of jeans and a t-shirt she had gotten at a department store recently to wear. Ginny put them on gingerly, grumbling at the fact that her sleeping was disturbed by Hermione's sudden want of bringing Ginny to a movie.

The two girls ate breakfast quickly and hitched a ride with Caroline, who had to go into London anyways. They spent the rest of the morning walking around the department store district in Hermione's attempt to show Ginny the world of technology.

The first department store Hermione brought Ginny into, she immediately tugged the red-haired girl over to the electronics and explained what a television set was used for. They then moved down the aisle of electronics to a VCR and DVD player, which Hermione then explained. 

Every once in a while Ginny would ask a question about Hermione's explanation, such as if the electronic actually worked. This particular question led to Hermione pressing the 'on' button on the TV but nothing happened. Bewildered, Hermione had tried turning it on again with no response. Ginny looked a little smug when it didn't work, but Hermione realized that the plug for the TV wasn't in and tried a different TV that she suspected of having the plug in. Immediately on the first try, the TV turned on and the screen came to life, which resulted in Hermione being the smug one.

After they went to the department stores, Hermione took her to a fast food restaurant down the block and the pair of them ordered hamburgers. As soon as they got them and had sat down, Ginny had nearly scarfed hers down while Hermione watched this a little apprehensively. Ginny hadn't had morning sickness the morning before or that morning and she didn't want it to happen right then in the middle of a crowded restaurant. But it didn't matter. Ginny looked fine while she waited for Hermione to finish her food. In fact, she may have looked a little hungry.

After Hermione was done, the two girls then travelled further down the street to the movie theatre. Hermione had desperately wanted to see _Pirates of the Caribbean_ and bought two tickets for them. She then led Ginny to the food area where Ginny instantly brightened and picked a bucket of buttered popcorn. Then, the two of them found some seats up high in the movie theatre and waited for the presentation to come on.

The usual movie previews went by and Ginny asked her what they were. Hermione told her in a whisper and a small, 'Oh,' came from Ginny. After a small silence, Hermione looked over to see Ginny entranced by the previews. She seemed enchanted by the way the camera moved and the way the images flowed from one to another. The special effects made her gasp a little, and the surround sound made her seem a little frightened. 

Hermione asked her if she still wanted to watch the movie, and Ginny nodded her head. Hermione then settled back to watch the movie as it started. Every once in a while she would look over to see if Ginny was alright. It wasn't as if she was afraid that Ginny would be really scared of the technology and they would have to leave. It was more of a reflex. She did it and didn't even realize it, and sometimes she would catch herself looking at Ginny.

She sighed and tried to keep her mind focused on the movie, but her mind kept wandering on to what would happen once the baby was born. She had to admit that she was worried. Would Ginny be able to stay in school? Hermione was forcing Ginny to keep going to school, even if she didn't want to or not.

Where would Ginny go once she had the baby? Hermione would still be in school then and wouldn't be able to be there for her if she went to live with Hermione's parents again. She supposed Ginny could just stay in one of the private rooms in the Hospital Wing. But who knew if that was even what Ginny wanted?

A small giggle came from Ginny beside her as Jack asked Will on screen if Will was a eunuch. Hermione smirked a little too at the thought.


	6. Ella No Cree Que Esta Embarazada

...No Ella Cree Que Está Embarrazada

*

'So there's no simple explanation 

for anything important any of us do 

and yea the human tragedy 

consists in the necessity 

of living with the consequences 

under pressure, under pressure. 

Courage, my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter, 

Courage, it couldn't come at a worse time.'

~ Tragically Hip, _Courage_

*

The routine of the Granger household changed throughout the next week. Everyday, Hermione taught Ginny more about the Muggle world in case Ginny had to bring her child up in it. They watched old reruns of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ and watched new episodes of _Charmed_. Hermione used these TV shows to show the fact that they weren't real, and most Muggles didn't have to deal with vampires from Sunnydale or demons from San Francisco.

But these shows also taught life lessons. You can't always get what you want. You have to work hard in order to get the things you want, and sometimes they didn't actually come. Sometimes in order to get the things we want, some other preoccupation has to be dropped and it was important to decide what was more important to have: friends or a successful career as a witch. And usually when Hermione persisted that Ginny understand these lessons, Ginny complained that she already knew them and the two girls would fall back to watching the episode.

As the week wore on, Hermione noted that Ginny was eating twice as much as she usually did. Amused, she watched as Ginny gobbled down two chicken breasts, four whole potatoes, a couple of teaspoons of corn and nearly a jug full of water at dinnertime.

Caroline noticed this too and decided that she would have to cook bigger dinners so that her husband, Richard, could also eat the same amount of food like he usually did.

"I better make the grocery list," she observed as she got up from the dining table, bringing her plate and glass with her.

"I'm so sorry," Ginny quickly apologized. "I don't mean to intrude so much."

"Ah, nonsense," Richard said as Caroline went into the kitchen with her dishes. "You're part of the family now. What's our food is yours as well."

He excused himself from the table then and brought his plate into the kitchen as well. Hermione sighed and continued eating. As per usual, she was the last one finished eating and the last one to get up.

A small 'humph' came from Ginny. Hermione looked up from her plate to see Ginny staring up at the ceiling sadly.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked.

Ginny sighed and shook her head, her eyes not leaving the ceiling, a sign that she was close to breaking down. "It's nothing," she said, her voice shaky. After a moment, she explained. "It's just I have to keep reminding myself that I'm eating for two now. Every time I eat like this, I keep thinking about cutting down to keep my figure and I forget that I'm pregnant." She shook her head again and looked down at Hermione. "It still doesn't seem real to me."

Hermione put down her fork and listened, realizing that this was important to Ginny. The younger girl looked away and concentrated on her nearly-empty glass of water. She frowned.

"Just knowing that I'm pregnant doesn't help," Ginny said. "I have to believe it, but it still comes as a shock to me when I remind myself to eat for two, you know? When I wake up in the morning and realize that I'm here, in your house, I always ask myself, 'What the hell am I doing here?' Then I remember I'm here because I'm pregnant. I'm here because I chickened out when I was going to tell my parents, and I ran away to someone I could trust to handle the situation better than I could."

"I don't know if I can handle that," Hermione told her, propping her elbows on the table and laying her chin on the top of her hands. "I mean, if I had been the one who had been pregnant, I would have freaked out."

"But you would have handled it better than I have," Ginny protested. "You would have gotten yourself on your feet and done something with your life while taking care of your baby. But now that I'm pregnant, I can hardly function. I don't know what to do anymore."

"Well, you got yourself here, didn't you?" Hermione pointed out. "You made it this far without a lot of help. That has to count for something."

Ginny's face softened a little. She took a deep breath. "I don't know," she said. "I don't know what to think anymore." Hermione saw tears finally form in her eyes. Ginny was frowning in thought and was trying hard to keep the tears at bay. "Can you bring my plate into the kitchen for me? I think I'll lay down."

Hermione nodded, and Ginny got up from the table, half-running to the bedroom. Hermione stayed at the table, looking at the door through which Ginny had disappeared through. She decided that Ginny needed a bit of space and went back to eating her supper. She was going to kill Harry the next time she saw him.

*

A/N: The title, 'No Ella Cree Que Está Embarrazada' is Spanish for 'She Doesn't Believe That She's Pregnant'. It's the best translation into Spanish I can do with only a year of Spanish lessons in high school, which is not a lot to go on, but I hope that the title is correct.


	7. Tell Them

...Tell Them

*

'When I told my parents that I was pregnant, it was the only time they ever looked small to me.'

~ Lorelai Gilmore, _Gilmore Girls _(Rory's Birthday Parties)

*

The confrontation was inevitable. Sooner or later, Ginny's parents would contact Hermione on the whereabouts of their daughter or to ask her if she would like to come over to their home for the rest of the summer holidays.

That summer, the two of them came personally, Molly and Arthur. It was around lunchtime, about a week and a half since Ginny had first come over, and both of Hermione's parents were out working. Hermione was reading _Good Magic_ while Ginny was watching a _Charmed_ rerun, the one where the three sisters each lose one of their senses and have to protect Piper's baby from an evil hag.

The doorbell had rung and Hermione put her book down to answer it, giving Ginny an encouraging smile when she saw that Ginny looked a little apprehensive. Hermione went into the foyer and opened the door, surprised at seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weasley on the front step. She was even more surprised that she was surprised about something she knew was bound to happen.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," she greeted cheerily, trying to make her voice loud enough so that Ginny could hear it in the living room. "What are you two doing here?"

"May we come in?" Molly asked anxiously.

Hermione opened the door wider. "Sure, sure," she said. They walked awkwardly into the foyer and each gave her a weak smile, but she could see the unmistakable signs of worry lines around their eyes and mouths. She caught Arthur trying to soak in every detail of the foyer, his habit of wanting to learn everything about Muggles kicking in. "What can I do for you?"

"We actually came by to see if you knew where our daughter is," Molly explained, holding onto her purse so tightly Hermione thought for sure that the material would break underneath her fingertips. She could tell that Molly was distraught, even though she seemed to be forcing it down.

"Um..." Hermione started, unsure of whether she should tell them the truth. A sneaked glance into the living room behind her told her that Ginny was gone, but then her eyes focused on the anxiety in Molly and Arthur's eyes and she decided it was time to come clean. "Yes, I have," she said, keeping her voice steady and calm. The two Weasleys seemed to brighten up and she noticed that the tenseness in the room had lessened a little. Now, she could only feel herself tense.

"Is she here?" Molly asked immediately, shakily smiling in joy and happiness that was mirrored in Arthur's face. They looked as if they wanted to dance around for joy but had thought better of it out of sheer politeness. "I want to see her."

Hermione nodded and went into the corridor that led to the bedrooms, the two Weasleys following her. She knocked on her own door, announcing her arrival to Ginny and said through the door, "Ginny, you have to tell them. Better do it now rather than later." When no sound came, she slowly opened the door and looked inside. Ginny was on her bed, the blanket covering her completely. "Gin..."

No sound came from the bed. Hermione looked behind her and saw Molly and Arthur looking at her in askance and confusion. She sighed and went to sit on Ginny's bed. She gently shook Ginny's shoulders and said, "Ginny, you need to tell them." Nothing still. "If you don't tell them, I will, but I think it would be better if you told them yourself."

Still, no peep out of Ginny. She looked under the blanket to make sure that it was actually Ginny under there and found that it was. She shook her head and replaced the blanket back over Ginny before ushering Molly and Arthur out of the room and into the living room, leaving Ginny to sleep. Molly and Arthur sat on the couch and she sat on a chair across from them.

Molly looked concerned and asked, "What's happened? What does Ginny need to tell us?"

Hermione took a deep breath and looked at their concerned faces. The pair of them were preparing themselves for the worst. Their faces were anxious and Molly looked as if she knew what was going to happen next and she didn't like it. Hermione let out the breath that she had been holding and started, "Uh... I don't know how to tell you this but--"

She was cut off by Ginny who had appeared behind her parents in the entrance from the corridor to the living room and said, "I'll tell them, Hermione."

Her parents turned around on the couch, hope on their faces. Molly looked so happy to see her daughter up and okay that she jumped off the couch and enveloped her in a big hug. Arthur was not far behind, and in all the confusion, Hermione discreetly got off the chair and went into the foyer before going through the entrance into the kitchen, closing the swinging door behind her silently.

She went over to the stove and filled the teapot on it with hot water before letting it boil to make herself tea. She got an herbal tea bag out of one of the little boxes Caroline kept in the cupboard and put it into a mug, her body tense and waiting for any sign that would tell her to go back into the living room to support Ginny. Once the water was properly boiled, she filled her mug with water and took a teaspoon. Stirring the tea bag about brought out the herbs and she took it out and put it in the garbage, slamming the cover back on it a little roughly in her tenseness.

After adding any milk and sugar that she wanted in her tea, she sat on a stool at the counter and waited. She could just make out muffled voices from the living room, some low and some high and anxious. However, she stayed where she was and let Ginny have her time with her parents to give them the news, sipping her tea.


	8. To Tell Someone That You Are Pregnant

... To Tell Someone That You Are Pregnant 

*

Her hands shook slightly as she sat down on the chair across from her parents. She had no idea how to start it off. Does she speak it happily, pretending to be cheerful? Does she outright tell them and look regretful, keeping her eyes away from theirs? Does she just tell them? 

It felt so surreal. She felt like she was floating in a dream where her subconscious was controlling her and she was the puppet. She knew that her parents would not take her news lightly and she felt helpless to stop their reactions from coming when she told them she was pregnant. 

So Ginny looked up at her parents who looked back at her anxiously, eager for news straight from the daughter, eager to find out the real reason why Ginny ran away. Molly's eyes looked worried and happy at the same time. Arthur just looked plain ecstatic to find out the his only daughter was all right. So Ginny plunged herself into her situation and said... 

"I'm pregnant." 

The reactions were spontaneous. Arthur's face went from happy to angry and red. Molly just went white and said nothing as Arthur, putting on a façade of calmness, said, "What?" 

Ginny took a deep breath and said it again. "I'm pregnant. I've known for two and half months." She tried to plead with them as her father got off the couch and began to pace around, trying to vent his frustration into doing something physical and non-violent. "It was a mistake, it should never have happened, I know. You don't have to tell me." 

"Yes, I think we do have to tell you," Molly suddenly said. She turned to Arthur and said reproachfully, almost as if it was his fault, "Sit down!" Arthur jumped and sat down beside her, although not right beside her. She turned back to Ginny, and with her lips in such a tight line that they became white, said, "How could you do this? How could you get yourself pregnant? You're only fifteen!"

"I'm sixteen, mum," Ginny told her wearily.

Molly scowled. "That is hardly an appropriate age for someone to have a baby," she said, "especially you. You have no experience with babies! How do you think you are going to take care of this baby?" This time, Molly got up and started pacing around. 

"I can try," Ginny protested. For some reason deep down inside of herself, she did not think that she would be able to take care of a baby, but she couldn't let her mother know that. She looked up from the floor she had been staring at as she said this and saw her mother's incredulous expression. "I can try!" she persisted.

"Who's the father?" Molly suddenly asked, her eyes wide in desperation Ginny could not fathom. When Ginny did not answer, she said again, "Who's the father? Please tell me that that bastard Malfoy did not take advantage of you."

Ginny shook her head. "It's not Malfoy," she told her, noticing that her father had looked up in anxiety at the mention of Draco Malfoy's name.

"Then who is it?" Molly demanded. "Ginny, tell me! Tell us!"

Ginny looked down, unwilling to say Harry's name. She shook her head curtly and said, "You don't need to know."

Molly shook her head and put a hand to her mouth, almost in grief. She shook her head again and closed her eyes before rubbing them. When she finally spoke, she spoke so low that Ginny was hard-pressed to hear what she was saying. "I am not going to let you go down the same road that I went down."

Ginny shook her head this time and asked, "What are you talking about?" When her mother did not answer, she looked towards her father who had his eyes fixed on a spot on the floor. "Dad?"

She saw a couple tears fall from her mother's eyes. She took a deep, shaky breath and said, looking Ginny straight in the eye, "I don't want you to go down the path that I went down. I don't want you to drop out of Hogwarts like I had to."

"There's something we did not tell you," Arthur took over, his voice low and calm. "Bill was born while we were in our seventh year."

Ginny gasped. How could she have not know this? It had always seemed a little odd to her that her older brother, when his age was subtracted from her mum's, seemed to have been born when Molly had been a teenager, but it had never ocurred to Ginny that her mother could have had her eldest brother while she was still in Hogwarts.

She closed her eyes for a second, trying to clear her head. First, she sleeps with Harry and gets pregnant. Then, she finds out that her parents went through the same thing, except they were older. What did she do? A single tear slipped down her cheek as she tried to find out how she could do such a thing to herself and to her parents. Why had she had that stupid crush on Harry for so long that she had to go and sleep with him because he had been lonely? She put her face in her hands and shook her head, the tears falling more freely now. How could she do such a thing?

Suddenly, her mother was in front of her and had wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight. She looked up as her father got off the couch and held onto both of them. She let go of her head and let her mother and father hug her, putting her head on her mother's shoulder, letting the tears come.

"It's alright, baby," her mother murmured, stroking her hair in comfort. "Everything's going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine."

Amidst tears and sobs, Ginny choked out, "It's not going to be fine! How- how could I be so stupid? How could I just let him take me like that? How could I be so stupid?"

Fifteen minutes later, Ginny managed her way into the kitchen where she found Hermione sitting patiently, her fingers curling nervously on the counter. Hermione looked up as Ginny came in, her face full of worry. Ginny managed a weak smile to her now that she had finally calmed down. She gestured to her red eyes and explained, "Crazy hormones kicked in."

Hermione didn't find that funny, and even though Ginny spoke it as a joke, neither did she. Hermione asked, "Ginny... how did it go?"

"Mum wants me to go home for the rest of the holidays," Ginny told her slowly. "She thinks it best." She decided to tell Hermione about Bill later and asked, "Do you want to come?"

Hermione nodded wordlessly. She looked down at the counter where her cold cup of tea sat with a look of thoughtfulness. "Harry will be there, won't he?" she asked.

Ginny's tone took a hard edge. "Unfortunately," she said icily.

"Are you sure you can handle him right now?" Hermione asked. She thought a little more and a look of panic crossed her face. "Do your parents know about him?"

"To the second question, no I didn't tell them," Ginny replied. She looked down at her hands. "I couldn't. He's been in our lives so much ever since he and Ron became friends and Molly and Arthur love to take care of him. You know, him being the Boy Who Lived and all. I think it would break their hearts if I told them it was him.

"As for the first question, I really don't know." Ginny began picking at her nails in nervousness. Just the thought of confronting Harry again was frightening. What would he say? What would he do? "My parents were pretty adamant that I go home, back to the Burrow. So I have to go. I think I'll just play it by ear and see what happens. Cross that bridge when I come to it."

Hermione nodded. She got off the stool and said, "I'll go pack and call my mother to let her know that I'm going."

Hermione walked around Ginny and Ginny remained where she was before whipping around just as Hermione had reached the door. "Hermione," she said. She paused as Hermione turned to look at her, one hand on the door. Ginny opened and closed her mouth before saying, "Tell your mother thank you for letting me stay here." Hermione nodded and left the room, leaving Ginny alone in the kitchen to ponder what had happened to her life.

*

Thanx to everyone who reviewed before! You guys just made my day! And thanx to those who gave me the correct translation of 'she doesn't believe that she's pregnant'. If I ever need anymore translations, I'll turn to you guys.

The next few chapters are going to be in Ginny's POV and most likely will take place at the Burrow. I haven't written the chapter yet but I'm sure Harry will figure in somehow.


	9. Home

... Home

*

'And I thank you

for bringing me here

for showing me home

for singing these tears

finally I've found

that I belong here.'

~ Depeche Mode, _Home_

*

_That night. It was a night she'll never forget. She lost her virginity on that night. But she gained someone to call her own. She became pregnant with a little child that she'll never give away, no matter what the costs were. She'll never let him take the little child. She'll protect the baby with her life._

_Heat. It was all she felt. She felt like she was flying above the stars with the clouds whisking by her, the moisture from them staying on her skin._

_Sweat. It drenched her. A mistake, of course. How can sweat drench you so much? But it did. It enveloped her, its watery arms folding around her. The stars shone brighter and she seemed to be flying upwards more steeply, her body arching into the sky. The blackness enveloped her too. It seeped into her every pore, filling her._

_The stars mixed together and began to fade. When she woke up, she was laying on a bed, naked but covered with sheets, with no one else in sight._ _Days mixed together and she no longer saw him. He had been avoiding her as she had been avoiding him. When they passed in the halls, they didn't speak. They sat on opposite sides of Ron when eating and rarely stayed in the same place together for a long period of time._

_For her, it hurt too much to know that she had slept with him and he hadn't said anything about it. Then, she found out that they were going to have a baby, and she no longer wanted to be in the same room as him, she was so disgusted, not only at him but at herself. She could feel his mind taunting her, calling out names like 'slut' or 'whore'. She couldn't stand it._

_She couldn't stand it!_

*

Ginny woke up then, her eyes burning from unshed tears. It was still daylight out, although, in a couple of hours, it would be dusk. She was in the back seat of a Muggle car sitting next to Hermione, who gave her a comforting smile when she saw that Ginny was awake. Ginny's parents were in the front seat with Arthur at the wheel and Molly looking on anxiously as he dodged numerous poles on the side of the road. Every once in a while, Ginny could hear her father muttering, "Damn those bloody Muggle poles! They always get in my way!"

They were on their way to the Burrow. Ginny was about to walk in on that part of her life she did not want to walk back into, but she had no choice and she rather would have gone than have put up a fight and get in trouble with her mother. So, now she was going to face Harry for the first time since they had slept together and he was going to ask how she was and why she run away and he was going to turn on Hermione for harbouring Ginny and Hermione was going to smack him.

Or at least, Ginny hoped that it would go that way. _She_ wanted to smack him for impregnating her, but she wanted to forgive him at the same time. She supposed it was a basic instinct of new mothers to find a father for their unborn child, or at least just a strong father figure. After thinking about that concept for a while, she decided she hated having all these wacky hormones.

The car soon turned into the driveway at the Burrow and Ginny looked up nervously. Here was her home, standing tall and proud, although why it was proud she couldn't say. She knew it wasn't because of her, of what she had done. She looked away and swallowed the bile of anxiousness that was starting to rise, hoping that it didn't spill out. Hermione squeezed her hand in sympathy and, as soon as the car stopped, they both got out; Hermione probably happy that she was about to see Ron, and Ginny dreading the minute she walked through the front door.

Molly ushered the girls up the front steps of the tall house while Arthur collected the bags from the trunk and began to tug them inside. Molly opened the door for them and Ginny hesitated while Hermione went in first. Molly noticed Ginny's frightened expression and rubbed her shoulders comfortingly.

"Come on, Ginny, dear," Molly said gently. "It's going to be alright."

Ginny took a deep breath and started inside. The kitchen was empty except for Hermione who stood at the kitchen table, reading a note. On Ginny and Molly's curious expressions, she explained, "The boys have gone out to play Quidditch in the back yard to release some steam."

Molly nodded and went to the stove, immediately going to cook them supper since they hadn't eaten yet. When Arthur brought all the bags in, the two girls, who were relieved of cooking duty with Molly, brought them upstairs to the room they were to share. Ginny simply put her bags on her bed and let Hermione unpack. She was restless. Delaying the confrontation with Harry made her feel jumpy and nervous. She had to do something other than pack, and it had to be something that would take her mind off Harry.

She slipped out of the room without Hermione noticing and made her way up the stairs again, this time headed for the attic. There was something specific in mind that she wanted to find which might help her get to know how her mother had dealt with her own pregnancy. In fact, she was looking for a diary.

The attic door nearly didn't open until she gave it a push, accidentally hitting some boxes behind it. She looked behind her to make sure that no one was watching her before peeking her head inside. It was dark, of course, and it smelled distinctly of dust and moisture. She pulled out her wand, muttered '_Lumos_' and the tip of her wand sprang to light, illuminating a path inside around many closed cardboard boxes. She squeezed through, leaving the door slightly open to air it out, before wending her way through the piles of clothes and cardboard boxes. 

She went to a vanity table on the far side of the room and squeezed around the boxes, stepping into clear spaces awkwardly. She remembered a time when she was younger where her mother had shown her a small, but thick, book that she had kept as a diary as a young girl. She was hoping that her mother had kept writing entries in it until after she had given birth to Bill and had kept a record of how she had managed to take care of a little baby.

Sliding her fingers along the top of the table, she swept off the dust that coated it. Somewhere on the surface of this table was a little niche that, when the board was picked off from it, it revealed a small compartment underneath, just big enough for a book. She felt the top, her fingers suddenly grabbing at a small niche made into the wood that was worked to easily lift the board away from it. Off the board came, dust sprinkling in all directions. She aimed her wand at the inside of the compartment, hoping that it would highlight a small, leather-bound book which bore a name plate that had the initials M.D. for Molly Devinsborough, her maiden name.

"Ginny?" someone called uncertainly from the door. Her head snapped up in shock and her body tensed at the voice. This was not the moment for any interruptions, especially from _him_. "Look, Ginny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just use you like that. My only excuse is that I wasn't thinking straight, what with Remus being jailed for something he didn't do, but--"

"It shook all of us," Ginny interrupted softly, "not just you."

She could almost hear the small sigh that escaped from his lips before he said, "Yes, I know, but I want you to know that whatever pain I caused you that was so much that you had to run away... I'm sorry. I truly am. I never intended to hurt you."

She wanted to yell. She wanted to scream. She wanted to do both these things at _him_. And yet, she bit her lip and stood there, not daring to turn around and face him, lest she suddenly blow up at him and her family find out that Harry was the father from all her yelling. She waited for him to get the message that she didn't want to talk to him and he obeyed, his footsteps going back down the stairs. She waited until she couldn't hear him anymore before daring to even move.

And she shone her light back into the cupboard and saw what she was looking for. "Bingo," she muttered.


	10. The Confrontation, Part I

...The Confrontation

*

'Though I've tried, I've fallen...  
I have sunk so low  
I have messed up  
Better I should know  
So don't come round here  
And tell me I told you so...'

~ Sarah McLachlan, _Fallen_

*  


Ever since Ginny had been a little girl, maybe ever since she could remember, she had always seen her mother writing in a certain little black book that was supposed to have held all of her secrets. Ginny had always been tempted to open this book and read what her mother had written, but even though the same genes that made the twins mischievous ran through her veins, she always came back to the same conclusion each time she felt curious as to what was inside: these were her mother's secrets and should not be messed with.

She had always had respect for her mother. Of course, who wouldn't? This was a woman who was able to raise six sons and a daughter with her husband and no one else --not even her parents (until they finally came around)-- without having nervous breakdowns all of the time or leaving suddenly and without warning. Molly had this aura that she was able to build that made even the most cynical of people believe her. And as Hermione liked to put it since she was so interested in witchcraft in the Muggle world, Molly was the Mother, the Maiden, and the Crone all at once.

So this was the reason why Ginny never touched her mother's diary all of these years, even though she was so tempted to. This was the reason that, when Molly finally decided to end her infatuation with writing in a diary, it was hidden up in the attic where no one but the ghoul and those who knew about it --which were Molly and Ginny, of course-- could find it in that little secret compartment.

Ginny pulled out the diary and ran her fingers over the edge of the cover. The quite filled book's cover was cracking and peeling away in some areas, leaving many bumps and ridges. Many pages were stuck inside precariously, showing that often Molly had no time to sew new pages into the book's binding. A small faded nameplate on the front cover of the book had the initials 'M.D.' stamped in red ink. Ginny frowned and opened the cover for the first time.

It was like being in a dream. A dream world where a younger Molly Weasley was writing down everything she saw and remarking on everything she did. Neat, flowing writing in blue ink filled the pages from side to side. Paragraphs, periods, semicolons, quotes. Here and there, a separation between ideas with little stars or half-moons. Dates headed each entry, also neatly written. Sometimes there was a change in the colour of the ink.

But Ginny closed the book. She sighed and clutched it to her chest before deciding that it might be best to go back downstairs to the others, face her brothers, and get the whole confrontation thing over with before her parents worry again about where she was. She didn't want to put them through that again.

After closing the door to the attic, the book still clutched against her chest, she walked slowly down the stairs, dreading each moment that brought her closer to that confrontation she felt she was going to regret. She could almost picture it clearly in her mind, the looks of disappointment and shock on her brothers' faces. The face that stuck out to her the most was Harry's. She could see his face forming an expression of utter shock, his knuckles going white before he turns to look at her parents to check their expressions, most likely wondering if they knew that he was most definitely the father. Then he would follow her and question her about what he had just heard for the rest of the night and she would most likely yell at him to go away.

Ginny stopped on the stairs. She couldn't do this. She couldn't just go down there into the kitchen and drop a bombshell like that on her brothers and Harry. It was bad enough that she had to tell her parents, let alone after she had run away. She was even starting to feel a little sympathetic to Harry now that he was going to hear some news that would probably push him over the edge, or even more.

She closed her eyes and started to count to ten. One... she willed herself to move her foot. Two... again, the willing thing. Three... 'Move, dammit!' she thought. Four... are those noises from the kitchen? Five... she had to tell them now and just get it over with. Six... 'Move!' Seven... 'Just get this over with!' Eight... 'But what about my brothers? What will they think?' Nine... 'Just go!' Ten...

"Ginny?" Hermione called from the stairs below her. Ginny took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking down at Hermione's sympathetic face. Hermione cocked her head to the side and looked Ginny over, scrutinizing. "Where'd you go?"

"Um," Ginny faltered. She gave a weak smile that she hoped would pass off as courage. "Exploring, I guess. I had to get my mind off... what's going to happen."

Hermione returned the smile somewhat stronger and went up the stairs further before hooking her arm through Ginny's. "C'mon, let's get this over with," she said and half-pulled Ginny down the stairs. At first, Ginny hesitated and tried to remain where she was. But since Hermione was older and stronger, she gave up immediately and let Hermione bring her down the stairs where, at the bottom, she was nearly bulldozed over with five brothers, Bill, Fred, George, Percy and Ron. She was pulled away from Hermione, and nearly dropped Molly's diary in the process, retrieving it just in time as her brothers all hugged her at once.

Having five brothers hug at once is not as easy as it sounds. First, you have to have a sufficient amount of oxygen saved up for that moment so that you can hold your breath as long as your brothers are nearly smothering you. And second, Ginny hadn't been prepared, which she should have been because she should have known that her brothers would react this way once they saw her. She cursed her mental state at the moment for helping to forget to save up some oxygen and tried to pull away. When that didn't work:

"Uh, a little oxygen would help here," she squeaked. Startled, all of her brothers thankfully got the message and jumped back, and it was only then that Ginny noticed that Harry was leaning against a counter, watching. Ginny shied away from his watchful eyes that seemed to be wanting to capture hers and gave a weak smile to her brothers. "Thanks," was all she could muster out.

Stifling a sigh, she turned away and went to sit in a chair at the kitchen table awkwardly, hiding the book in her lap underneath. Hermione sat down next to her and everyone else followed suit with Harry sitting on the other side of Hermione. Hermione glanced at him coldly, Ginny noticed, and looked away leaving Harry to be a little mystified. He looked questioningly at Ginny who quickly looked away, her cheeks blushing for no reason that she could comprehend.

Molly, the only person no sitting down, was cooking dinner on the stove, her wand doing most of the work. Ginny could feel her mother's eyes on her but didn't look up to meet them, wishing that her mother would just get it over with and tell them. After all, Ginny had made a deal with her parents that she would come home if they were the ones who brought up the subject of her being pregnant first.

Dinner was served quickly. Throughout the meal, Ginny felt a tense atmosphere in the air surrounding her. She could feel her brothers' curiosity and anticipation. She could sense her mother's worry, and her father's quick eating told her that he was nervous. Harry seemed just as curious as her brothers and would look at her every few seconds. The only person in the room completely sated and relaxed was Hermione, who seemed to be thinking about something else because she kept looking at Ron every few minutes. It seemed to Ginny that Ron was trying to avoid Hermione's eyes, as if he knew that she was casually glancing his way. Ginny happily distracted herself with thoughts about this new attraction between her brother and Hermione.

But it didn't last. When dessert didn't come, Ginny finally looked up from her plate where she had been swishing the remnants of her food around nervously and found her mother standing, an anxious look at her face. When everyone else noticed this, they all looked up at Molly as well.

"There will be no dessert today," Molly stated, her voice calm, and a little cold. Ginny could hear the anxiety in her mother's voice as she remembered younger days. Thinking about what her mother could have written about that time in her diary, Ginny felt for it nervously and held the book tight. "I'm afraid that I have something to tell you which is too important to put off any longer." She paused again and Ginny took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She looked around and saw everyone's eyes glance at her curiously. She took another deep breath and looked down at her plate, not willing to meet their eyes any longer.

"The reason your sister ran away was-" Molly stopped there. She seemed to be debating something and Ginny looked up, afraid of what she might see in her mother's face: would it be disappointment or anger? Had her mother changed her feelings toward her suddenly? Suddenly, Ginny's mind was racing her pulse was racing, her heart thumping faster and faster until she felt it would literally jump out of her body and run away. She wondered if anyone else could hear the beating of her heart, racing as her adrenaline rushed. The anticipation, the nervousness for the confrontation's arrival, freaked her out so much that she was considering running for it for the second time in her life.

She wasn't much of a quitter. Hell, she would gladly raise this baby if it didn't mean quitting. But that fact was, she was too scared. She was too angry at herself for getting pregnant, too freaked out wondering if she was actually going to be a good mother. She had no way of knowing whether this baby was going to love her and that scared her to death. 

Then, there was everyone else's reactions to think about. What would they do? Would they reject her? Would they actually get off their butts and help her? Or would they say, 'Nah, it's your fault you got this way and now you'll just have to deal with the consequences.' Wildly, she looked around, her heart beating even faster each second. What would she say to them? What would _she_ do? How will she get through this?

It was all just a bad nightmare. Yes, that was what it was. It was just a nightmare where everyone she loved rejected her and she will wake up any second, back in her own body and her own life, and realize that she wasn't pregnant anymore and everyone still loved and adored her as the youngest Weasley who was innocent and still a virgin.

But Molly smiled. She caught Ginny's eyes and gave her a smile, a sympathetic smile. Ginny froze as she watched as many emotions filled her mother's eyes. Sadness, happiness, regret, pain, heartache, tiredness, emptiness, everything under the sun that you could possibly feel went through her mother's eyes at that moment and Ginny somehow knew that it was going to be okay.

And Ginny said, "I'm pregnant."


	11. The Confrontation, Part II

... The Confrontation, Part II

*

'It's what happens when sand is hit by lightning.'

~ Melanie Smooter, _Sweet Home Alabama_, refering to the glassware

*

She nervously fiddled with the book in her lap. Its binding crumbled at the edges under her fingers and the remains fell down her lap, sticking to her skirt. But she didn't care. She had just told the people she loved the most in the world that she was pregnant. She began to see herself in a different light: one that was no longer young, innocent, naive. She was now a young woman in their eyes, a young woman who had messed up and will most likely pay for it in the future. She began to see herself like that too and she had to kick herself and tell herself that it wasn't true. That, yes, she made a mistake, but there were no guarantees that everything wouldn't turn out right in the end.

'I'm pregnant'. The words echoed through her mind. They replayed over and over eeriely, like a broken Muggle record. Suddenly, it was all she heard, the ringing chorus of 'I'm pregnant' filling her ears. It was only a minute later that she realized that she was on the floor by her chair, everyone squished anxiously around her, the book laying dejectedly underneath the table.

Frowning, she asked, "What happened?"

"You fainted," Hermione explained, holding her hand tightly. She spoke to the others. "She should rest."

"Yes," Molly said, "I agree. I'm afraid that it's been too much excitement for one day. She needs to sleep."

Ginny began to protest but Bill had already picked her up and was now carrying her up the stairs with Hermione trailing behind. "Bill, put me down," Ginny protested. "I can get up the stairs."

Bill looked at her sternly and shook his head wordlessly. Ginny frowned at his clouded expression and looked back at Hermione who was anxiously trying to keep up with Bill's strides. Hermione simply shook her head so Ginny looked ahead, watching as Bill carried her up the stairs further until they were on the floor with Ginny's room on it. He carried her into her bedroom and laid her down on the bed carefully. Ginny looked up at him wearily and saw that his expression was still troubled.

"Do you want any water?" he asked simply.

"Sure," Ginny mumbled, trying to get comfortable on the bed. Bill nodded mutely and went back out the room leaving Hermione to sit on her bed.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked Ginny anxiously.

Ginny put a hand to her head distractedly and nodded. "I'm alright... I guess," she said slowly. She looked at Hermione quickly, needing to know an answer. It would surely kill her if she didn't find out. "How did everyone react?"

Hermione hesitated before saying, "They seemed pretty chivalrous. Your brothers looked pretty stricken, but then you fainted and I guess now they are more worried for your well-being." She hesitated again before quickly getting up and saying shortly, "You should get some rest."

Hermione was almost out the door of Ginny's bedroom when Ginny finally asked, "How did... how did Harry react?"

Hermione stiffened before turning and putting on a weak smile. "He was surprised," she said curtly. "Like we both thought he would be. But he hardly moved when you fainted. I think he's a little too surprised so he couldn't move, it was like he was in shock or something." Her face suddenly twisted into a sneer. "God, why am I defending that bastard?"

Ginny went to open her mouth to contradict Hermione, but the door had already swung closed. As much as she hated to admit it, Harry didn't exactly do anything wrong. Yeah, he had taken advantage of her and used her to satisfy himself, but she had gone along with it. She could have just told him 'no' that night, but she didn't. It was just as much her fault as it was his.

That night, the only visitor to her room was Bill, who brought her water and anything else she wanted. By the time he had trudged through the door with her first cup of water, his mood had improved. He smiled when he saw her and Ginny noticed that his eyes lit up whenever he entered the room. A thought entered her mind, making her wonder what exactly was it that her mother had said to bring him into this mood so suddenly. She watched as he gently placed the glass of water on her bedside table and clasped her hand between his hands, rubbing it comfortingly.

"Anything you need, anything at all, you know where to find me," he told her. She nodded and he left the room to get more blankets for her bed, coming back in a couple of minutes. She got underneath the covers after changing into her pyjamas while he had been gone and he laid the blankets over her, then bade her good night and left her to the peace and quiet that was her room.

She tried to sleep, but couldn't. She ended up rolling over time after time, thinking endlessly about how Harry had reacted. Even though Hermione had told her the gist of it, Ginny still wondered what his expression had looked like. Had it been surprised-surprised? Or had he just been surprised? After a while, she couldn't help feeling a little joyous that she sort of had a victory over him and had surprised him with the news. 'Bet he didn't expect that,' Ginny thought smugly. Her smile soon faded as she realized what she had just thought.

She sighed and rolled over towards her bedside table and pulled out one of Hermione's romance novels, _Katherine and the Pirate_. She opened it up to the last page she had left off at and started to read, trying to focus on what has being said and done in the story. An ex-pirate was sailing his best friend's little sister across the ocean after said best friend was kidnapped. The sister and the ex-pirate end up falling in love. This was a book that Hermione had recommended, but Ginny found it a little uninteresting because of the fact that it was set in the Muggle world a couple centuries ago.

Muffled voices floated up to her room and she tried to listen to what they were saying. After sort of reading a page or two and going over a paragraph nearly ten times without really reading it, she sighed again and put the book down on her bedside table next to the abandoned glass of water. She looked at the glass and picked it up, looking at the inscription on the bottom of the glass. It read, 'Andrews-Malfoy Canada' with a little upside-down triple-arch underneath the name. Her eyebrows rose up as the familiar last name loomed at her from the bottom. 'Malfoy? Were there Malfoys in the industry of making glass? And in Canada? And why do _we_ have one of their glasses?' she thought. She shook her head and shrugged.

An hour of restlessness passed by. During that time, Ginny paced the room, willing sleep to come upon her. At the end of that hour, the noise from downstairs began to dwindle off and footsteps pounded on the stairs. Ginny quickly jumped back into bed, turning the light off. The door opened and she pretended to be asleep as Hermione came into the room and closed the door. She dressed before getting into her own bed and quickly fell asleep.

Another hour passed and Ginny still felt restless. After everyone had gone to bed, Ginny quietly left her bed and went out onto the stairs, her feet touching the cold floor underneath. She padded down them softly and listened for any sounds coming from any of the bedrooms. When none came, she continued on towards the kitchen and suddenly stopped in her place as she turned the corner to the kitchen, the way she had nearly five years ago when she had first met a certain boy up close and personal.

"I was wondering when you were going to come," Harry suddenly said, sitting at the same chair at the kitchen table he had been sitting in at dinner time. Ginny froze and stared at him anxiously, trying to read his expression. If he had waited all that time in the same chair until she came down, then it would probably be bad.

She folded her arms defensively, as if guarding herself from whatever evil Harry might say. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Funny," Harry commented, finally moving from the table and going to sit on the couch in the living room, absently picking up a magazine from the coffee table. "I could ask you the same thing."

Ginny watched him sit down and followed suit, although in a chair across from him. She nervously folded her legs underneath her and watched him stare at the magazine, frowning. "I couldn't sleep," she muttered.

"Neither could I," Harry stated. The tonelessness in his voice was starting to wig Ginny out now. "I got so tired of trying to sleep, I came down here and waited for you." He lapsed into silence then and she waited until he was ready to question her. Her adrenaline began to rush again and she shifted uncomfortably, waiting for it.

When he spoke next, his voice was low and hushed, almost toneless. "When were you planning on telling me?" he asked. He looked up at her, his eyes hard and penetrating. She quickly looked away from his eyes. He looked back down and played with his fingers and she relaxed.

"I was going to tell you," she quietly said. He nodded a little and she added defensively, "I was! I was just waiting for the right... moment."

He nodded again, and she could tell from his posture that he didn't quite believe her. He looked as if he really wanted to say something important but seemed to bite it back. Silence. Then he asked, "Does everybody know that I'm... the father?"

She shook her head and said, "Just me and Hermione."

He chuckled. "I guess Hermione isn't too happy with me right now, with the way I handled things."

Ginny looked down slowly. A surreal feeling washed over her, making her feel as if she wasn't really there. She forced herself to speak and said quietly in reply to Harry's comment, "No, she isn't."

Silence again. But this time it wasn't uncomfortable. At some level, the two of them had reached a sort of understanding with each other. Looking back now, she didn't blame him. She mostly blamed herself.

It was awhile before either one of them spoke again. Then, Harry asked the question, "What do we do now?"


	12. The Plan

The Plan

*

_What do we do now?_

That's a good question, and there's a good answer. But at the moment, Ginny was too busy trying to have as normal a life she could get to even answer that question. She had her diet to think about--like what food she should be eating-- and she had to keep her stress level down to a minimum and not be so stressed about things. At least, that's what they told her: to not care too much if she got a bad mark in Potions because it might harm the baby.

The 'they' she's referring to: yeah, that would be the many teachers and adults constantly worrying about her and telling her to do this and to do that. They were like a storm of bees when they saw her. The teachers would leave any students they were talking to at the moment and immediately travel to her side, asking her how she was and if her course load was too heavy. Many of the abandoned students would give her odd looks, and she would feel out of place; her pregnant and a bunch of teachers worrying about her and not any other students. Honestly, she had gotten enough of that from her mother and Hermione, she just wanted some peace to figure things out.

Then, there was Harry. The commonly thought 'angel' by many of the students at the school simply for him being the only person who could ever give the Wizarding World a chance of defeating Lord Voldemort. And when the last link he had to finding out how his father had lived suddenly is murdered, he goes and looks for solitude. What he finds is a girl willing enough to look the other way in order for him to find peace and they have sex. Then, they have a baby. Alright, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Soap Opera Number 1.

  
*

Ginny rushed down the corridor to her next class, a load of books stacked in her arms. She could not believe that she was going to be late again. Every single day it seemed like, she was late for Potions. Every single day. And it was starting to annoy her because, pregnant or not, Snape was going to give her another detention just out of spite. She just knew that he would do that. But every single day...

Dodging a couple of boys playing with a ball on the steps down to the dudgeons, she walked as quickly as she could to her Potions classroom. The cold dampness of the dungeons seeped into her clothes and she shivered, hoping the classroom would be warm today. But it was not to be a good day at all for her. No sooner had she adjusted her books and tugged her robes closer to her body than she bumped into a seeming brick wall and all of her books scattered all over the floor.

"Oh, crap!" she muttered. She bent down to retrieve her books and order them into a neat pile when she noticed that the wall was not a wall at all; it had feet. Her eyes travelled upwards as she slowly pulled herself up and she found that those feet belonged to a body which belonged to none other than Draco Malfoy. Just her luck. "What?" she asked crossly.

"Just wondering what a piece of trash like you is doing down here," he said smoothly, folding his arms. "I'd better be careful if I were you. Wouldn't want you to be walking into actual walls next time."

"Oh, bugger off, Malfoy," she sneered, her patience lessening. She tried to side-step him but he slid into her way. "What now?"

He looked like he wanted to say something badly, but closed his mouth. "Watch where you're going next time," he just said before suddenly sidling off.

She turned to watch him leave, very confused and very startled. After shaking her head, she gathered herself and started down the corridor again towards her classroom. As soon as she got closer, she could see the outline of Snape standing in the doorway, his arms folded and his lips pressed firmly together, a knit in his brow. She made her face look passive and tried to feign innocence. "Sorry," was all that she said, and she walked past him into the class, feeling the tension rise just a bit further between him. She knew he really wanted to give her a detention, but of course, she was pregnant, and he had been told to leave her alone.

She took her place between two girls from her grade and the lesson began. Throughout, she tried to stay on focus, but she found Snape a little boring that day and always found herself thinking about her meeting in the corridor with Malfoy. A very odd occurence, if she had to say so. Absentmindedly, she wrote down what Snape was writing on the blackboard and hardly concentrated on it. By the end of the lesson, she had learned nothing and had been assigned a 6 inch essay due in 10 days about some subject she had not paid attention to.

Later on, as she walked towards the Great Hall, she saw Malfoy's blonde head in the crowd and wondered why he had toned his little speech down at the end. He never looked her way for the rest of the day though, and she chalked it up to some odd thing that would never be questioned again.

For dinner, she sat with Hermione and the gang, patiently listening to the boys' squabbles over Quidditch. It was awhile before she had a chance to speak with Hermione alone and out of earshot of anyone else. The two journeyed up to the common room, and she could have sworn that Harry had been watching her leave the Great Hall. As they walked up to the common room, the two of them made small talk.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"Considering I ate two times as much food as I normally eat," Ginny started, "pretty well actually. I mean, those potatoes were great. Did you try the potatoes?"

"I tried the potatoes," Hermione answered. "Do not dodge the subject. Really, how are you doing? We haven't talked very much since Ron spilled pumpkin juice on himself at Halloween."

"Good, I guess," Ginny replied, not wanting to be too open. "Look, I don't really like... never mind."

"No, really, what were you going to say?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Ginny started, dithering on answering. "I just haven't been myself since I got--you know--and I'm not too excited about sharing my feelings."

"Hey, I don't know what's going on with you: you do," Hermione told her. "Now, tell me. Who are you?"

"A very confused person," Ginny replied quietly. She sighed and said nothing more, waiting for Hermione to pick up the fact that she didn't really want to talk about her life.

The two walked up a short staircase before Hermione finally said something. "Nothing else?" 

A moment from before Potions class entered her mind and she asked, "Do you think Malfoy knows?"

"What?" Hermione asked her incredulously. "How could he know? He's only a prefect."

"Yeah, but things get discovered pretty fast around here, and news flies around the school like wild fire," Ginny told her. "It's hard to keep any secrets in this place."

"That's not true," Hermione scoffed.

"Alright, give me an example," Ginny dared her.

It was a couple of moments before Hermione finally answered, almost joyfully. "Dumbledore's Army."

"Nope," Ginny immediately said. "I'm ashamed of you, Hermione. You forgot that Umbridge and Malfoy's gang found us." The pair ended up in a long corridor filled with moonlight and with many tapestries on the wall, all showing pictures of exquisite scenery and no people, most likely because the subjects had ran away to join another tapestry playing poker in another area of the school. "Can we stop here? I'm getting really tired."

"Sure," Hermione said, nonchalantly. The two sat down underneath a window and Hermione shook her head. "There's got to be something that the school hasn't known about."

"I don't know," Ginny said slowly. She sat up and said, "Plus, we've been here for over two months already. And I've been thrust into the entire student body and a bunch of teachers who constantly keep watch on me. Someone's gonna know at some point that I'm--"

"Shh!" Hermione nearly yelled. "No mention of anything starting with a 'P' and that relates to that subject. We are sitting in enemy territory!"

Ginny analysed her best friend's face and the amount of determination she saw in it before deciding something. "You've been watching way too much American television. You're starting to sound like someone from _the O.C._"

Hermione only rolled her eyes in reply. "So, you really think that Malfoy knows about you?"

"Either that, or he suspects it," Ginny answered. "Or at least suspects something. No matter how many times we condemn him in private for being a total jackass, he's not stupid. He'll figure it out eventually."

"And a sad day that'll be," Hermione muttered. "Perhaps we should watch him to make sure that he knows at least something."

"Hmm," Ginny mumbled. "Do you think we'll be able to keep watch on him without him knowing about it? Again, he's not stupid."

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Hermione asked her. Ginny shook her head. "Then, this is the plan. Now..."

The pair stayed in that corridor for another fifteen mintues, discussing their plans before finally getting up to continue on to the common room. By the time they finally reached it, the boys had already settled down in a couple of armchairs by the fire and were playing chess. They gestured the pair over to watch the game and nothing more was spoken on the subject of Ginny's pregnancy or on the plan to stalk Malfoy.


	13. Dissension Among the Ranks

Dissension Among the Ranks

*

The floor of the dungeon was cold to her toes and she wished she had been smart enough to remember to bring shoes. Silently, she walked on, shivering in the cold of a November night, following the footsteps of a tall, blonde-haired man up ahead. For the past week, this was her routine: she would scope out the dungeons and stick to the shadows their walls cast on the floor, always following Malfoy while Hermione would follow him in the upstairs corridors. It wasn't a very thought out plan, but it was the best the two could think of on such short notice. If only they had let the boys know what they were doing so they could do this job, but Hermione said the boys would just want to punch Malfoy and then they would never find out what he knew.

Ginny continued on through the shadows, trying her best to keep the noise of her robes swishing along behind her down to a minimum. Malfoy suddenly turned down another corridor, as was his custom, and kept walking. She had already learned where he was going. Just up ahead of him there was a room cordoned off for the prefects where they could sit and relax and talk about the days' activities. She had not been inside that room yet for fear that she would be caught. But Hermione had given her Harry's Invisibility Cloak which she took with her this time and had told her to use it.

"Gin, this is important," Hermione had said. "Draco might say something important about you inside that room, so you have to go in there."

Malfoy stopped in front of a gargoyle in the shape of a lion with its throat surrounded by a snake and spoke the password. Ginny quickly threw the Invisibility Cloak on and braced herself, sneaking in with Malfoy just as the wall was about to close behind him.

They were standing in a large room, decked out with black and green drapery and similarly coloured couches which were assorted throughout the room. Bookshelves lined one wall, stacked with books Ginny assumed were filled with knowledge of the Dark Arts. Against another wall were a line of small desks apparently for the use of the prefects who frequented the room. There was a fire in the grate and a chandelier with green fire for lights on the ceiling. Only a couple other students were sitting on the couches; but other than that, the room was empty.

Draco looked around, scanning the other students for anyone he actually knew and wanted to talk to. Some nodded their heads to him in greeting, but turned back to what they were doing quickly, a sign that they weren't willing to talk to him. Ginny waited for him to do something patiently. Well, 'patiently' might not be the word for it since her feet hurt a lot and she wanted to sit near the fire badly.

Finally, Draco moved towards the bookshelves and pulled an old tome off one of them before taking it to one of the couches. He sat down and started leafing through it, his brow crinkling in feigned interest. Ginny watched this and made her way towards the fire, taking her cue to sit down too and sat with her back to the fire so she could watch him.

Half an hour later, the wall opened again and a bouncy seventh year, who Ginny found was Pansy, ran in, sitting next to Draco. Her high voice filled the room and she ordered the younger prefects sitting in the room to leave. _I guess Slytherins even have prejudices against the younger files of their own house, too_, Ginny thought, watching closely. As soon as the wall closed behind the last prefect and Draco and Pansy were the only ones in the room together--or so they thought--Pansy was all over him. It was quite disgusting really.

Draco tried to push her away, very annoyed, but she persisted, clambouring on top of him and leaning down to lick his neck. Ginny hid her eyes in disgust and tried not to listen to the sounds coming from Pansy. Thankfully, Draco managed to push her off of him completely and stood up, panting.

"What?" Pansy asked, a little shocked. "I thought you wanted to have sex tonight. Isn't that what you wanted to see me about?"

"No, you idiot!" Draco yelled at her. Ginny uncovered her eyes and watched the pair fight. "I wanted to know-"

"What's up with that Weasley girl?" Pansy shrieked at him, putting her hands on her hips in anger. "God, what's with you? You won't even have sex with me?"

"Oh my God," Draco muttered in frustration, turning away. "Could you be anymore dense?"

"What's with this-this... obsession you have with the little Weasley?" Pansy yelled at him, standing up and walking over to yank him around to face her. "It's not like she's exactly pretty."

"I just want to know-" Draco started, but Pansy cut him off again.

"Yeah, yeah, 'you want to know'," Pansy yelled, mimicking him. "Well, listen to me, _pal_, that girl is a worthless, penniless, piece of dirt. And if you think that I'm just going to ignore the fact that you keep watching her and not watching me, you will be sorry."

Draco suddenly flew at her and pinned her against a wall, their faces mere centimetres apart. Pansy gulped and waited for his wrath. Ginny got up slowly out of exhaustion and moved closer to the pair at the other end of the room to hear what they were going to say.

Draco's voice was low and husky when he spoke and his face was contorted in pure anger. There may have been some hatred in his expression. "Now, what did you find out?" he asked Pansy.

Pansy closed her mouth, determination showing on her face and shook her head. He shook her and she still said nothing.

"Dammit, Pansy," Draco yelled at her. "If you don't tell me what you found out, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Pansy challenged. "You're not even half the man you say you are. You couldn't hurt me."

"Like hell I could!" Draco yelled. 

Pansy laughed, something Ginny would be too freaked out to do if she was in her shoes. "No, you couldn't," she said. "You couldn't even kill me. You wouldn't even be able to-"

He suddenly slammed her against the wall and she gritted her teeth, but her eyes were still challenging. "I don't have time for this, Pansy," he said, spitting out her name like it was poison. "Just tell me what you know and you won't get hurt." When she shook her head, he slammed her against the wall again.

Rolling her eyes as if this was nothing, she finally said, "Alright, I'll play. This girl you want to know about-" Ginny perked up to listen "-rumours are flying around the school that something happened to her. Something bad. Whatever it is, the teachers flock around her like they are birds looking for a meal, except they all seem more concerned for her well-being than picking her apart. Some think that something happened with that diary again, but no one's exaclty sure."

Draco suddenly released her, satisfied with what she told him. He walked towards the middle of the room and she inched away from the wall, a hand touching the back of her head where it had hit the wall. She reorganized herself and smoothed her hair down, waiting for Draco to say something.

He was staring into the fire for awhile before she cleared her throat. As if only noticing that she was still there, he turned and asked, "Anything else?"

"Well, I would be glad to report this to your father," she said. "I'm sure he'll be very interested in the fact that you're looking for information on a lowlife."

"None of your business, Pansy," Draco said calmly. "I can assure you, my father will do nothing about it."

"I wouldn't be so sure of myself, if I were you," Pansy told him, finally starting towards the wall/door. "If I were you, I'd watch my back. This interest in that girl is going to hurt you, and when it does, I'm going to be there. You can be sure of that."

"Don't make threats, Pansy," Draco said. "For someone who is Slytherin, those threats are pretty empty."

"You wanna bet?" she asked him, turning to face him as the wall slid away. He just looked at her and she quirked an eyebrow. She finally walked through the doorway into the dark corridor beyond, and once the door was closed, he threw a glass that had been on the table beside him against the door. Ginny jumped at the noise and wondered how she was going to get out of there with all that glass on the floor.

It was a moment or two before Draco pulled himself together, his expression carefully blank, and walked towards the door. The wall slid open for him and he calmly walked through it as if nothing had happened in that room. The wall closed behind him, leaving Ginny inside alone. She had found out two things: he didn't exactly know that she was pregnant, but he suspected something had happened to her, and also that he wasn't the Dark Prince of Slytherin house anymore from the way Pansy had treated him. She suspected that it might have something to with his father. Perhaps the other Slytherins had gotten sick and tired of Draco buying his way through school.

Ginny sat down on a chair and wondered again how she was going to get out of the room. Her eyes caught sight of the book Draco had been fake-reading as they travelled around, looking for another door. Turning the book over, she caught the title, _Macbeth_, on it and frowned. So, Draco read Shakespeare. She leafed through it as he did and caught various poetic phrases she only half-understood.

Putting it down, she got up and walked towards the door. The wall automatically slid away as she approached it, but she could see tiny shards of glass. Hoping her socks would keep out most of the glass, she carefully stepped around large piles of glass and tiptoed out, bracing herself on the wall's opening. Once in the corridor, safely away from anymore glass, she tried to get the glass out of her socks. Once they were pretty decent, she jogged through the dungeons up the foyer of the castle, eager to tell Hermione what she found out.


	14. The Good, the Bad, and the Glass

The Good, the Bad and the Glass

*

A week passed without incident and both Hermione and Ginny agreed to stop stalking Malfoy, at least for awhile. Ginny managed her way through her schoolwork and spent her remaining free time hanging out with Hermione or reading up on pregnancies. There was a large stack of books in her room (the teachers had given her a single bedroom for herself) about pregnancies and babies. Many of these books were given to her by her mother, some by the teachers, and a couple by Hermione whose parents had found them in Muggle bookstores and thought that Ginny might like them. 

This particular Friday night though, Ginny was trying her best to read at least some of them but found her mind would not focus on the words printed on the pages. Every time she tried to focus, her mind would wander off to another totally unrelated subject, such as Muggle sports or ethics in the Slytherin house. By 8 o'clock, the books were driving her crazy and she threw one back on the bed before shoving them all off and onto the floor.

Sighing, she took out the glass she had snuck from her house into the school and held it in her hands. The familiar inscription 'Andrews-Malfoy Canada' blazed up at her from the bottom of the glass and she turned it over to look at it again, puzzled by who the Malfoys actually were. She knew that the family was rooted in dark magic and tied to the Dark Lord with nothing but dark history between, but what the hell was a Malfoy doing in Canada making glasses that were most likely cheap since they had ended up in the Burrow?

Carefully, she laid the glass on its bottom on her bedside table and opened the drawer of the table. She pulled out a book she had not looked at for ages. A small diary, nearly filled to the brink with pages and pages of entries. The covers all worn out and crumbling at the edges with a nameplate in the centre of the front cover, the initials 'M.D.' stamped on it.

Ever since she had gotten this book out of the many boxes in the attic at the Burrow, she had not looked at it, not even once. She was too scared to. It held her mother's life in it, and reminded her of Tom Riddle's diary, except with actual words that you could actually see instead of complicated charms laid on it designed to hide the words and pull whoever is reading it into another world. Also, the fact that she wanted to read this and would be intruding on her mother's personal thoughts scared her. But no more. She was going to read it. She had to.

Opening the book cover, she was greeted by, '_This book belongs to..._' but no name was inscribed on the long black line written underneath those words. She turned to the next page and found the first ever diary entry.

'_December 12, 1978:_

_I met with Arthur in the library again today. I know, I shouldn't go against my father's wishes and be with Arthur, but I can't help it. I love him, and I know that he loves me back. So, it can't be a crime. Just because he's poor, doesn't mean I can't be with him._

_I really don't know what all the fuss is about. He's a great guy._

_That's all for now._'

Ginny continued reading, fully absorbed in the diary. She began to understand her mother, the things she gave up to be with her husband. It was pretty romantic how they ran off together after she got pregnant and when he proposed. She began to see her parents in a different light: the world when they were teenagers and together. It's what must have kept them together all these years since.

Halfway through the diary, she decided to put it down and go down to the kitchens for some food. She realized that it was eleven o'clock already and most of the students had gone to bed. She put on a sweater and some shoes before tiptoeing out of her room. She snuck through the common room as there were still two fifth years playing chess by the fire.

The halls were cold and every window she passed, she could see that it was snowing. It seemed fitting for that time of the night. Everyone asleep and the snow blanketing the grounds, the soft powder falling from the sky. Luckily, she passed no ghosts or evil cats or Mr. Filch. Everything was silent and every painting was sleeping as well. It was peaceful and calming.

Finally, she found herself in front of the painting that marked the kitchens. Tickling the pear, the wall disappeared and she could see many house elves busying themselves with making food for the next day. As soon as she walked in, many of them crowded around her, eagerly asking her if she wanted anything. She asked them for some chocolate chip muffins and some juice and they scrambled away, leaving her to find the small dining table off to the side of the kitchen that Dumbledore had put there expressly for the students.

But as her eyes found the table, she saw that someone was already sitting there: Draco Malfoy. He had turned to see who had come and now shook his head before turning back around. Tensely, she remembered how he had treated Pansy in the prefect lounge room but kept getting reminded of what Pansy had kept saying about him. Wondering if she should leave and not have to deal with speaking to him, she stood still, still looking at him. Making a decision, she calmly walked over to the table and settled on the chair across from him.

He hardly looked up at her, his hands playing with the mug of coffee in his hands. "What do you want, Weasley?" he asked, his voice tired.

Still unsure of what she was doing, she answered, "Well, at the moment I want two muffins and some juice and to be able to sit at this table without question because my feet are killing me."

"Usually, when a Weasley approaches a Malfoy, it doesn't turn out so good," Draco told her, studying her. She knew he could see the fear in her eyes, but she didn't back down. She couldn't. She had to talk to him. "Why are you here?"

Her muffins came and two house elves brought her a large goblet of juice which they set on the table in front of her. Once they were gone, she answered, "I don't know. To talk, I guess."

"To talk?" Draco asked a little incredulously. He kept his eyes on her which was very unnerving to her, so she busied herself with taking apart a muffin and eating it. "About what? We have nothing in common with each other. Our families are mortal enemies and your brothers hate me. In fact, you should technically hate me too by family relation. And yet, here you are, eating a muffin and talking to me."

Ginny shrugged and asked, "Are there any Malfoys in Canada?"

He leaned back. "Yes. Why?" 

"Do they make glasses?" she asked. Then, "Like the ones that you drink out of."

He nodded. "My father's half-brother, David Malfoy. My family is not allowed to talk about him."

"Why?" Ginny asked quickly, looking up to look Draco in the eyes. "Is he good?"

Draco considered answering her and finally said, "You could say that. He's considered bad seed." He drank some of his coffee before continuing. "My grandfather's second wife had him and immediately ran away to Canada after she found out who my grandfather really was. She was a muggle, of course. Naturally, no one in my family talks about her and the son, and no one outside the family knows. Except you, I guess. Why are you so interested in my family history?"

"I have a glass with the inscription 'Andrews-Malfoy Canada' on the bottom," she told him. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, "I just wondered."

He nodded and nothing much more was said as she ate. Then, he said, "We're not going to be friends, you know?" She looked up, startled, before nodding. "And don't tell anyone about David Malfoy." She nodded again and he seemed satisfied.

After watching him drink his coffee, she slid her muffin forward and offered some to him. Wordlessly, he accepted, and they shared the two muffins together.


	15. Coffee and Pancakes

Coffee and Pancakes

*

"When the world ends, collect your things, you're coming with me."

~ Dave Matthews Band, _When the World Ends (Oakenfold Remix)_

*

When she woke up the next morning, she found that the room was bright from all of the light bouncing off the snow on the window sill and also found her room was filled with new things: teddy bears, roses, baby clothing, a crib and many toys. Her bed had also been sprinkled with rose petals which turned different colours and she slowly sat up, taking it all in.

"Alright, guys," she said aloud, her voice husky from just waking up and a nauseous feeling in her stomach. "Very funny. And very inconspicous! I'm sure anyone coming in here wouldn't wonder why all this baby stuff was here."

No one answered, but the bathroom door opened and Harry asked, "Did you say something?"

"What is all this stuff?" Ginny asked him, gesturing towards everything piled high in the room. "I'm not due for another six months. You could have bought me all this stuff then."

"Hey, who says I bought this stuff?" Harry said jokingly, jumping onto the bed beside her and laying back, his hands behind his head. "It could have been Hermione, or even Ron."

"Hermione and Ron aren't the ones using my bathroom when I just wake up," Ginny told him. "Besides, they cover their tracks better than you do."

He grinned and said, "Alright, you caught me." He rolled over onto his side to look at her better. "So, how are you feeling this morning?"

"Nauseous, and tired, with a weird tingling feeling in my breasts and just a bit of annoyance at being up at all this morning," she replied. "I'm also hungry."

Harry rolled off and said, "Then, I shall get you some food." She started to protest, but he held up a hand to silence her. "What would you like, madame?"

"Blueberry pancakes," she said. "And like five of them. And some water."

"Okay, then," Harry said, crossing the floor to the door. "Stay in bed and get some more rest. I shall be back."

As soon as the door closed, she got up and crossed over to the bathroom. The vomit that she had been holding in because Harry had been there came out as soon as she approached the toilet. She flushed it and washed her hands and face before rinsing some water through her mouth and spitting it out into the sink. She pushed the cabinet door closed and looked into its mirror, seeing a frightened teenaged girl with no idea of what she was doing. Her long russet curls hung limp about her face, waiting for a shower, and her skin was pale and sickly. She had not been kidding when she had said she was nauseous.

She walked back into her bedroom and looked at what Harry had bought her again. He really was stepping up to be the perfect father. There were baby clothes for both genders, just in case it was a girl and just in case it was a boy. She had hoped that the baby would be a girl because she didn't want to have to deal with so many boys like her mother had had to.

She sat back down on her bed and waited for Harry to get back, now more hungry than before. At last, the door opened and he came through bearing a bed tray filled with pancakes and Ron following him.

"Oi, mate, you really went overboard," Ron said to Harry, closing the door as Harry set the tray down over Ginny, its legs on either side of her. He sat down at the foot of the bed and separated some of the pancakes onto his own plate, leaving some for Ron and Ginny to eat. "I can't believe how many things you bought." Harry smirked. "My own best friend and he shows me up, and I'm the one who is the brother!" Ginny silently laughed. "I guess I'm gonna have to buy something now."

"Oh, Ron," Ginny said, smiling, "you don't have to. I think Harry took care of the whole baby section in the _Nymph-Rae_ catalogue."

"Pretty much, yeah," Harry agreed. "You could buy her some chocolates, though," he added to Ron.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Ron said, still awed at the many piles of baby toys. "Thanks, mate."

Ginny sobered when she remembered that Ron had no idea that Harry was the father and quickly gathered herself some pancakes. Ron did the same and sat beside Harry. The three of them made small talk about the past week before the door opened and Hermione came in, a cheerful smile on her face. 

"Good morning," she greeted them sunily and nearly pranced over to Ron. Ginny and Harry watched, startled, as Hermione and Ron kissed on the lips. Then, Hermione sat next to Ron and stole bits of pancake off his plate. She looked up, still smiling, to see the other two's expressions. "What?"

"Wait, when did this happen?" Ginny protested. "I didn't know you two were together."

"Neither did I," Harry said.

Ron chuckled and said, "It happened yesterday."

"So, you finally got the courage to ask her out?" Harry asked, some of the shock fading. Ron nodded happily and Harry added, "Congratulations."

Ginny nodded and Hermione said, "Aww, thanks guys." Everyone went back to eating and Ginny saw Hermione look around the room at all of the toys and clothes and teddy bears. "Whoa, who bought you all this, Gin?"

"Harry did," Ginny told her, trying not to let her voice waver. She saw how Hermione immediately tensed up and how Harry tried not to look at anyone in particular.

"Oh," Hermione simply said and quickly went back to stealing out of Ron's plate. Ron looked a little confused, but Ginny shook her head at him and he quelched whatever he was going to say. Harry slowly lifted his eyes to Ginny's and they shared a look before both of them went back to eating.

*

It was awhile before Ginny finally ventured out of her bedroom. Once Ron had left, Hermione had forced Harry to organize everything he had bought for Ginny, which he did without argument. It would be another hour and a half before they both left Ginny with mention of plans for going outside to enjoy the snow with all of the other Gryffindors.

Ginny wasn't too thrilled with going outside to throw snowballs at everyone in the freezing cold. So, she got up and got dressed before leaving the tower to walk about the school, looking at all of the paintings. They all suddenly fascinated her, each with their own scenes and their own characters, different time periods and different personalities and different artists behind each painting. She looked at each in turn, and it was awhile before she realized that there was someone standing behind her, leaning against the windows lining that wall. 

Her heart beating wildly, she turned to find Malfoy watching her, his arms folded. She folded her arms too and said, "I thought we weren't going to be friends."

He just shrugged and asked, "Walk with me?"

She nodded and they headed down the corridor. It was awhile before she finally asked, "Why are you talking to me?"

"Because you talked to me," Draco told her. "As corny as that sounds. And because I'd like to screw my father over and defy virtually every rule he's put in place for me."

Ginny just looked at him and said nothing. They continued walking and somehow found themselves in the corridor that led to the kitchens. He ushered her in first and the house elves crowded around them, excited to see them together again. When they sat down, they somehow got to talking about their lives so far, with Ginny carefully leaving out the subject of her being pregnant.

"I hate my father," Draco said, nearly spitting the word 'father' out. "I hate everything my father stands for and what he's done to me. There are few moments in life where everything is suddenly clear to you and this is one of those moments."

"You saw the light?" Ginny asked tentatively.

"More like I saw the darkness," Draco replied, a faraway look in his eyes. "I saw what the darkness could do and I hated it. I hated it so much. And it's so hard to believe that for a whole lifetime, that was what I was living up to. _That_ was who I was going to become: a puppet to the Dark Lord, a slave to his will. Then I started to lose faith."

"And now you hate your father," Ginny repeated. He looked up at her and nodded. "Okay, I don't want to sound rude or anything and I don't mean to sound like I don't believe you, but our families are mortal enemies like you said last night, and well... are you sure about this? This isn't a trick, right?"

He laughed and said, "I wish it were. I wish I had a different life and _this_ life of mine was a trick, or some nightmare that I had when I was little. But it's not. So I'm here, talking to you." He became angered. "And you know, part of me still hates you because you're beneath me--no offence--and because you're a Weasley. I guess I had all of that beaten into me when I was little."

"Your father beat you?" Ginny asked, surprised.

"You're surprised about this?" Draco asked her, a little bit condemning.

"Well, yeah," Ginny said. "I never really associated it with your family."

"Well, now you know," Draco said, calming down. He ordered another coffee and changed the subject. "So, you get back to your dorm alright?"

Ginny nodded, and watched him sip the last of his coffee, wondering how he could turn so quickly to the good side when it was only a week ago that she had seen him pin Pansy against a wall. Perhaps it was his way to get back at all of those who were in Slytherin, but his violence suggested otherwise. She decided to become his friend, but still be wary of him. At this point, she still had no idea of what he was capable of.


	16. Wanting to Run

Wanting to Run...

"How can you turn and walk away,

Pretending everything's okay?

How can you turn your back?

Tell me, why do you love me like that?"

Michelle Branch, _Love Me Like That_

The corridor was long and dark. There were no paintings on the walls, and the air was cold, but Ginny tiptoed down it just the same. She had decided to go for a walk by herself to get away from the constant yelling of those in the common room. Their voices made her nauseous and tempermental. This is why she left so eagerly, hoping that no one would go after her, not even Hermione.

She slid down to the floor against a wall in exhaustion. A hand drifted to her stomach, feeling the prodding and kicking of the baby as he (or her) got bigger. These days, it took a lot to even move a short distance as the baby was practically sucking all the energy from her. She was even starting to eat even more--which she found to attract a lot of attention--to gain more energy to stay in school.

Already, she was six months pregnant and she was beginning to show that she was pregnant. The teachers insisted that a spell be used to cloak her pregnancy during the day, so no one knew that she was pregnant. It was fine with her, as she didn't want to show that she was pregnant and risk the negative ripples that would come along with that exposure.

She yawned and closed her eyes, the darkness of her eyelids consuming her. She felt a couple more kicks from the baby before she yawned again and fell to sleep.

The sun was shining, the day was lovely and everyone was perfectly happy. Ginny happily made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast that morning, hoping to squeeze in a few hundred cinnamon buns before the morning classes started.

The doors of the Great Hall were already open and multitudes of students were already in the Hall, enjoying their breakfasts and eagerly chatting to each other about the day's prospects. Before entering, she looked around the Hall for Hermione and spotted her with Ron and Harry at the Gryffindor table (as usual). Ginny relaxed and smiled, before quickly entering with a ghost.

A sudden hush fell about the large room and it seemed that everyone turned their eyes toward her. She froze in place, wondering why they were all looking at her, before realizing that she had forgotten the charm. She looked down regretfully and found her belly to be wider than before, popping out in plain view.

The hush was soon replaced by boos and heckling from all corners. Students looked at her accusingly, like they had never seen anything so disgusting. Rumours swept viciously up and down the house tables and the teachers all shook their heads, frowning at her. Hermione turned away from her angrily, shaking her head, while Ron and Harry just ignored her. She looked towards the Slytherins and found Draco laughing viciously at her.

Ginny turned, tears flowing from her eyes, and ran from the Great Hall.

There was the sound of footsteps against the stone floor. Voices whispered, their tones far away and secretive. She moaned, rolling over, wishing them to stop so she could sleep in peace, but they continued. More footsteps sounded, and she dimly recognized the feeling of being pulled up.

She sat up quickly and realized that she was sitting in her bed. Sun was shining into the room, suggesting that it was mid-morning. Her white comforter was warm on her body and she looked down to see that her stomach was wide and large. The whispering continued.

Bewildered, she wondered how she had gotten there. After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, she dismissed it and started to get out of bed. Her feet touched the cold floor and she gritted her teeth against it, dimly wondering why she didn't have her socks on.

After washing up in the bathroom, she turned off the light and wandered back into her bedroom to straighten the sheets on her bed. But she found the comforter had already been pulled back and tucked neatly into place. Ginny frowned. "Okay..." she muttered.

The whispers grew louder. A sudden breeze picked up from a window that had miraculously opened, and blew into the room. The breeze travelled to the bed and turned into a white whirlwind that landed on the sheets. The whirlwind disappeared as suddenly as it had come, and she discovered there was a ghost sitting on her bed. The ghost was dressed in a long white gown. Her long red curls were pulled up and piled on her head, and her radiant skin glowed with a ghostly light. Ginny dimly recognized the emerald eyes of the other woman before the woman reached out and put her hands on Ginny's stomach.

"You're Lily," Ginny stated. The other woman didn't move from her position, but only smiled. "What--"

Lily held up a hand to silence her and Ginny closed her mouth. There was a silence as the woman pulled back, and then, "She is pregnant, then." The whispers seemed to be agreeing with her. Lily looked down and Ginny felt the fabric of her shirt move up a little. The bulge that was the baby could be seen plainly. "And it is Harry Potter's baby." The whispers became astonished.

Ginny spoke up then, confused at why Lily used Harry's full name so impersonally. "Yes, it's Harry's child... your grandchild."

Lily shook her head. "I am not who you think."

"You're not Harry's mother, Lily Potter?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"No, I am not," the woman who wasn't Lily told her calmly. "What I am, I cannot tell you. But all you need to know is that I am merely borrowing this form because it is connected to the baby you are about to have."

"I don't understand," Ginny said.

"You don't have to," Lily said. She got off the bed and stood up. Ginny watched in awe as the light around her changed to many different colours. She suddenly stopped and folded her arms, looking at Ginny. "A prophecy had been made years ago that said that Harry Potter would be the only person powerful enough to defeat the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Do you know it?"

"Yeah, I've heard about it," Ginny said, suspiciously. "What does this have to do with me and my baby?"

The woman looked at her strangely, and the whispering became faster and louder. "I'm here to make good on that promise," she finally said, still looking at Ginny. Ginny folded her arms closer to herself, becoming freaked out.

"What are you going to do?" Ginny asked, nervously.

The woman didn't answer. Her eyes stayed focused on Ginny. Then, they travelled lower, and Ginny noticed the whispering became more excited and electrified. The woman's eyes finally landed on the bulge of her stomach, at the unborn baby waiting to be born, its tiny body still developing.

Ginny suddenly hunched forward in pain, her uterus cramping. The pain felt like a thousand claws tearing at her stomach, and Ginny collapsed to the ground, holding onto her stomach fiercely. Through the pain, she looked up and saw Lily still looking at her intently. "No!" she screamed. "Leave my baby alone! No!"

Lily's form suddenly morphed. White light gave way to dark light. The body became taller, and the clothes became dark and ragged. A horrifying sight appeared in the place of the beautiful woman and Ginny screamed.

She dimly remembered being woken up savagely by a strong grip on her arms. She tossed away from the grip, trying to pry herself from it, fearing that the horrific ghost was there now, trying to kill her baby, but the grip tightened. She felt herself being shakened and a loud corporeal voice shouted at her, trying to wake her up.

"For goodness sakes, Ms. Weasley, wake up!"

Ginny opened her eyes, finding herself laying on the floor in the stone corridor. Immediately, she looked down at her stomach and felt kicking there, but no pain like she had experienced before. It was just a dream. All of it had been a dream.

As she lay there, dazed and confused, the teacher in front of her began chiding her. "Such ridiculous behaviour! Sleeping on a stone floor in the winter time like that... that was very irresponsible of you. Do you know what you could have done?" She looked up at the teacher and realized Snape was standing in front of her, a pure angry look on his face. She grimaced. "To yourself and to the baby? You could have caught pneumonia and died. Or your baby could have died, and you would still live. To think that you have done something like this is--"

He suddenly stopped and clenched his teeth. Then, he looked her sternly in the eye and said, "Go back to your common room and go to bed. If I see you out here, sleeping in corridors again, I'll report this to the Headmaster and have him rethink his decision of allowing you to remain at school while you're pregnant. But for now, I'm giving you a warning: take care of that baby properly, or I will see to it that you will never see it again." He stood and brushed off his robes. When he was finished, he reached down and pulled her up too. "Do not do it again. Now, go back to your common room, you silly girl. And five points will be taken away from Gryffindor for this... destructive behaviour."

Snape suddenly swept off, leaving Ginny alone. She stood, bewildered, watching him go. When he had turned a corner, she looked at her watch. It was a quarter to midnight. She sighed, and leaned against the wall. The now-fading memories of those dreams came to her mind and a tear slipped down her cheek. She bit her lips and willed the tears not to come before she finally started off for Gryffindor Tower.

Meanwhile, unknown and in the shadows, Draco Malfoy leaned against a wall, listening to everything that was being said. His face hardened as he realized what was being said, but he didn't dare move. He waited as Snape stalked away and waited as Ginny silently left, crying, before he dared to step out of the shadows.


	17. Confessions and Kisses

Confessions and Kisses

Throughout Christmas, she became more and more quieter. Hermione always seemed to find her in the library, curled up on a chair--as much as she could fit on it--day-dreaming about worlds outside her life. She withdrew from her friends' activities, so much that they began to persistently question her, and she found that she no longer hung out with Ron and Harry. Or, as Hermione pointed out one day, she was avoiding them. That remark had been followed by a quick snipe from Ginny and then Hermione decided to leave.

She was completely alone, only seeing Draco occasionally when they met up in the kitchens. The teachers were now watching her every move, pondering the day when Snape would have to wake her up from sleeping in a hallway again. Thanks to Snape, they all knew about it, although they weren't going to do anything about it but pester her all day about how to do this and how to do that.

So, the library was her only place to hide away from everyone. It was the most unlikely place to find her, and many people who were in the library were too concerned about their homework or about each other to even bother her. This was the perfect spot.

Until Draco found her.

He had been browsing a bookshelf close to the back of the library where she hid out when he saw her. He checked to make sure no one was around before casually strolling up to her chair and grabbing himself one to sit down in. She merely looked up at him mutely, wondering why he was consorting with her in public.

"Fancy seeing you here," Draco said, putting his book on the table silently. She didn't answer him but closed her eyes, and he leaned forward, taking in her dishevelled appearance. "You don't look so good."

"I've noticed," Ginny mumbled calmly.

"Do you need to tell me anything?" Draco asked her, watching her expression. "Anything out of the ordinary?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him for a second before shaking her head. "There's nothing that I can think of to tell you."

"Really?" Draco asked her, unbelieving. "If I recall correctly, you used to love being the center of attention, always seeking out your friends for a light conversation here or there. Now, you're huddled here, in the back of the library, avoiding everyone like they're planning to kill you. Why the sudden change?"

She shifted uneasily and her eyes filled with pain. "I don't want to talk about it."

"No?" He watched her even more closely and asked quietly and innocently, "Who's the father?"

At first, she didn't seem to have heard him. But then her eyes filled with fear and she straightened in her seat, tense. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said even more quietly.

Draco shook his head, amazed that she would lie about it when he obviously knew. He gave her a sour smile and got up from his chair, clutching his book. "I guess you don't."

He started to walk away, but he heard her say, "Wait..."

Turning back, he found her looking into space, her eyes carefully avoiding his. He silently walked back to the abandoned chair and sat down, again putting the book on the table. He patiently waited for her to talk.

It seemed a long time to him before she finally did talk. And when she did, she didn't start off like he had expected her to. "You should be able to guess who the father is. After all, you taunted me about him ever since I came to this school." She looked at him then, and he knew from her expression of pain who the father was.

"Potter," he said, disgusted.

She nodded, and suddenly gave a chirp of laughter. "Yes, _Potter_. Turns out that he's not a saint, either." She looked him over. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. You're my enemy. You're part of a group of people who are enemies with us, the good guys. I should hate you. So, why am I telling you this?"

"Because I'm just too nice and good-looking to _not_ talk to me," Draco quirked. She looked at him reproachfully. "Sorry. By all means, continue."

She considered this, and then started from the beginning. It all came out in jumbles, her story, and he often had to interject to make sense of it all. By the time she was done, and he finally had a clearer picture of what was going on in her head.

"And that's what happened," Ginny finished. "And I am such a complete fool for falling for Harry in the first place."

"I'd have to agree with you on that one," Draco muttered, careful to leave his hatred for Harry out of his tone.

"I should never have slept with him in the first place, or this would never have happened," she continued, as if she hadn't heard him. "I would never have been pregnant if it weren't for that one night. I would be a normal student, enjoying a normal life at Hogwarts, going out on dates, anxiously waiting for dances to come up so I can be invited by nice boys and be paraded around the dance floor." She smiled. "I miss that. But I'll never be able to enjoy that life again."

She fell silent and he said, "If it helps, dances are overrated anyways."

She smiled at him, tears coming to her eyes. "Thank you," she said softly.

Draco lifted an eyebrow. He had never gotten any 'Thank yous' from anybody who actually meant it before. He smiled as well and said, "You're welcome." He watched her for a moment more, absorbed in her, before finally standing up to leave. "I don't want to leave you like this, but I have a big essay due soon and I have to go work on it." She nodded sadly and toyed with the sleeves of her sweater. Feeling just a little bit guilty, he suddenly leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. She tensed up at the sudden touch but didn't say anything. In fact, her manner didn't change as he pulled away and she curiously looked up at him without any fear or pain he had seen from her at the beginning of their conversation.

He backed away slowly, pointing vaguely behind him. "I'll just be leaving now," he said, giving her a smile. "And cheer up. You never know, you might actually like the kid you're going to have." She laughed at that and he grinned before turning around and walking away, his heart pounding every on every step.


	18. What a Beautiful Day

What a Beautiful Day

On Christmas Eve, Ginny made it a point to buy Draco a gift. She had found her way into Hogsmeade without any of the teachers' permission and had bought him a gift that she had seen earlier, thinking it to be the perfect gift to give him. It wasn't too stylish and she wondered why she was even going out of her way to buy a present for a guy she was supposed to hate, but she felt compelled to after their conversation in the library. Thus, this is how she ended up walking into Hermione and Harry during her trip to Hogsmeade, and they didn't take her lack of permission too well.

"Ginny!" Hermione nearly shouted. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the castle, in bed, sleeping."

Ginny sighed and held up her purchases, which luckily included presents for everyone else too, to hide Draco's. "I had to shop," she said cheerily. "I didn't do it before so I had to do it now."

"But you shouldn't be putting so much stress on the--" Hermione nudged Harry before he had a chance to say 'baby' "--on yourself," he corrected himself. "Shopping is very, very stressful. Especially during the winter. You should be at Hogwarts sleeping."

"I'm fine," Ginny said, grinning. She waved their anxiousness away. "Just a light headache, that's all. But other than that, I'm totally good to go. In fact, you guys don't have to worry. I'm almost finished shopping for gifts."

"You're so light and cheery, today," Hermione commented, a strange look on her face. "Is this part of the mood swings?"

"There are mood swings?" Harry asked, shocked. Both Ginny and Hermione looked at him like he was crazy.

"Really, Ginny," Hermione started again, her voice taking on a parental tone. "You should really be in bed--"

"Enough with the bed thing!" Ginny exclaimed, starting to lose her patience.

"Ginny," Hermione scolded, "get back to the castle right now. We'll finish up with your shopping for you."

"I can do it myself," Ginny said, crossly.

"Ginny," Harry ordered, "just go up to the castle."

"Just because we slept together, Harry, doesn't mean you get to boss me around!" Ginny sneered at him, borrowing a trait from Draco. Students who were passing by heard this little 'announcement' with shock. Some even tripped over themselves to keep their eyes glued to the threesome as they were walking by.

Harry looked taken aback by this sudden outburst against him. Hermione stood rooted to the spot, trying not to look at anyone passing by. "Ginny, I--" Harry stammered. "I was just trying to--"

When he saw that Ginny was ignoring him, he closed his mouth and stalked off. Hermione opened her mouth to protest his leaving but decided to talk to Ginny instead. "What's with you?" she asked Ginny. "For a month, you've been so consumed with yourself and nothing else that you hid yourself in the library. Then, suddenly you're cheery, practically bouncing all over the place like you were fourteen again, and now you have insulted Harry in front of practically everyone we know."

"Actually, I was kind of wondering why you were back on speaking terms with Harry, all of a sudden," Ginny threw back at her, spitefully.

Something dark crossed Hermione's expression before it withered away. "There's a lot that has happened that you don't know about, Ginny. In fact, Harry and I have been friends again for a couple weeks now." She measured her next words carefully. "Ever since Snape found you sleeping in a corridor." Ginny looked up sharply at that mention of that. She had no idea Hermione had known about that. "Yes, Ginny, I know about that. In fact, everyone who knows about what happened was told about it. Because we're your friends."

Ginny lowered her head shamefully, tears coming to her eyes, as Hermione walked away. When the crunching of Hermione's boots no longer sounded on the snow, she finally looked up and realized that many students were simply staring at her, some reproachfully. She finally couldn't take it anymore and started off towards the school. However, she suddenly became dizzy and fell forward into the snow.


	19. Born on a Different Cloud

Born on a Different Cloud

When she woke up, she found herself in the Hospital Wing. All of her possessions were on the floor beside her bed, a little bit crinkled but dry, and she was lying under warm covers with the curtains to her bed closed, nursing a headache again, along with nausea. It took her awhile to realize someone was sitting beside her bed.

"You know, don't you?" she asked him, her stomach twisting into knots at the thought of him witnessing her outburst at Hogsmeade.

Draco nodded. "I was the one who caught you," he told her lightly. A small grin appeared on his lips. "Granted, it did take people by surprise when _I_ caught _you_, of all people."

Ginny bit her lip in disgust at the way she had acted, and at the way Draco was putting a spin on it. She shook her head at him. "You're not supposed to be this way," she told him, bitterly. "You're supposed to be angry at me for acting the way I did. You should even be disgusted. I mean, you, of all people, should be disgusted at an outburst that... _stupid_." She hated the fact that she was close to tears.

Surprisingly, Draco grinned again. "Actually, that outburst was rather classy. Nice to see you have it in you." Ginny scowled at this and he laughed. "Plus, I don't even like Potter or Granger, so I'm not in too much of a hurry to be reproachful on you now. Apparently, you need your rest."

"God," Ginny moaned. "If I hear those words again, I'm going to go crazy."

Draco reached forward and held her hand, stroking it gently to soothe her. She smiled and relaxed, letting him hold her hand. They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like eternity. It felt like she knew him, but she didn't know him at the same time. Their families were so different, yet the two of them seemed to get each other. It was the first time in a really long time since she had felt so relaxed around someone and she loved how it felt.

He suddenly shifted and drifted forward towards her. She lifted herself onto her elbows and they kissed, the sweet tangy taste of his lips intermingling with her own. He pulled her closer to him, supporting her fully as they kissed deeper.

It felt like hours that they were in each other's arms, but it was merely minutes, and before they realized it, the curtains surrounding Ginny's bed had been drawn open and Draco and Ginny hastily moved away from each other to discover Professors Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall standing there, shocked. Well, Dumbledore was more happy than shocked.

Draco sighed, turning around to face Ginny. "I think I should leave," he told her.

"Yes, I think that would be wise," Snape said, his voice oddly quiet.

Draco nodded politely at Snape before getting up and moving closer to Ginny's bed again to give her a light kiss on the forehead. "If you need to talk, just ask for me." In a lower voice, he added, "Good luck."

She smiled up at him as he straightened. "I will," she told him and he smiled too, still holding her hand. Their fingers interlocked briefly as he slowly backed away before their hands couldn't touch each other any longer. And then, he was gone, and she was alone to keep herself in the school. She looked up uncertainly at the teachers before her and found two of them to be confused and one of them to be happily sitting down in the chair Draco had just vacated, pulling out for himself a sherbet and offering one to her, which she gladly took since she was starving.


	20. Apprehension after the Fact

Apprehension after the Fact

The wind howled outside the windows of the Hospital Wing, its tune sending shivers down her spine. Ginny gathered her bags and made sure everything she had bought in Hogsmeade was still there while casting worried looks at the window. She could see a pile of snow already gathering on the window sill and the wind kept howling louder and louder. It was going to be a bad night for sleeping.

As she passed the office of the nurse, she made sure the nurse was aware that she was leaving. Madam Pomfrey added another tonic for nightmares to the bags and Ginny finally made her way out the door of the Wing into the empty corridors of Hogwarts. Many of the students had been asleep for a couple of hours already and the hall lights had been darkened to adjust to the night. Ginny crept along silently, thinking about what the teachers said to her and what would most likely be waiting for her when she got to the Tower.

Even though she had been in the Hospital Wing for several hours, none of the Famous Trio (as Draco liked to put it sometimes) had shown up to apologize or see if she was okay; not even her brother had come. That wasn't the best sign. Either they were really pissed off at her behaviour or they were planning to talk to her when she got back to the Tower. And Ginny was quite confident that it wasn't one of those friend-to-friend, what should we do, I hope you're all right talks. It would be a talk where they would patronize her for being so careless and for secluding herself from her friends. One would have to wonder what they would say if they found out that she and Draco were sort of dating.

She found herself on the main staircase and looked up it, up the usual way of going to the dormitory. The staircase was darkened, and the torches lining the wall flickered ominously. The baby suddenly kicked her stomach, causing her stomach to growl. Turning around and holding a hand to her side where the baby had kicked, she made her way down the staircase to the kitchens.

Compared to the coldness of the hallways of the castle, the kitchens were practically an oven. Ginny nearly had to shed a layer or two to keep herself from overheating. All around her, there was a tumult of activity. All of the house elves seemed to have chose that moment to make every dessert and entrée known to man. Mountains of sweets, cakes, and pastries lined two tables while another table held various meats and poultries along with assorted side dishes. The house elves were apparently preparing for Christmas dinner.

Ginny's eyes slid over to the dining table where she and Draco often ate and found it vacant. Her heart slipped down a notch more and she glumly made her way over to the table before carefully placing her shopping bags on the floor beside it. She sat down and pulled off a scarf Madam Pomfrey had insisted she wear back to Gryffindor Tower. The colours of red, orange and green caused her to stand out more brilliantly than she really wanted to and she hid it in one of her bags, lest Draco should come in and see her wearing it.

A house elf ran over to her and eagerly took her order: five cookies, some yogurt, and coffee. She had a feeling she wasn't going to be sleeping tonight anyways. The elf scampered away and Ginny looked through her bags again, this time to make sure nothing had been broken during her fall. She was happy to see that Draco's present wasn't broken. Now, if only the man in question would show up.

The house elf that took her order ran back over, but he didn't take a plate or glass with him. Instead he held out a bag and a cup-to-go with a cap. Ginny took it in surprise and looked up at the elf in askance. He hurriedly explained:

"Master Malfoy wishes that you join him in the Astronomy Tower," the elf explained, puffing out his chest in importance.

"Oh," Ginny replied, taken aback. This was new. "Did Master Malfoy say why?"

"No, ma'am," the elf answered. He suddenly bowed to her and ran off to join the others.

Putting her scarf back on and gathering her bags and coffee cup, she left the kitchen and made her way towards the Astronomy Tower, keeping watch for Filch. She shivered in the cold and wondered briefly if there were blankets in the Tower so that she wouldn't be too cold. She suddenly thought that there probably were blankets, but they probably weren't there to keep you warm.

Every step towards the Tower made her more and more anxious. She had no idea what Draco was on about. Then, the fact that Ron would probably kill her and then kill Draco if he ever found out that she had been in _that_ Tower with a Malfoy. There was also the mysterious conversation with the teachers in the hospital wing (about the birds and the bees) to think about. Dumbledore told her to be careful, McGonagall to be wary, and even Snape was suspicious when it came to the youngest Weasley and Lucius Malfoy's son. Although, when Dumbledore told her to be careful, he seemed very... peppy, not to mention optimistic.

The entrance to the Tower came in view and she slowly climbed up its steps. On the highest landing, the door stood open, spilling candle light onto the landing. Ginny pushed the door open further and found Draco laying on a couch, his eyes closed. All around him were candles. Hundreds of candles, their light transforming the usually depressing room into a beautiful haven.

She moved into the room and laid her bags on the floor by the couch. She set her food on a side table and looked around the room for blankets, finally finding them in a cupboard amongst telescope equipment. She took one out for her and one out for Draco, but when she turned back around she discovered that he wasn't really sleeping. He looked sleepy, but his eyes were open and they were looking at her, along with a smile playing on his lips.

"I'm not sleeping, you know," he told her, matter-of-factly.

"Rats," she said, dejectedly. "I can't hog the food all to myself."

Draco sat up and rubbed his eyes as Ginny made her way back to the couch. She gave Draco a blanket and settled down, laying hers over her legs before grabbing her food bag and taking out the cookies and yogurt, neatly packaged along with a spoon for the yogurt. She took a cookie out of the wrapping and offered it to Draco, who took it, politely thanking her.

"So, what did Dumbledore and them say to you?" Draco asked.

"Oh, um..." Ginny began, swallowing a piece of her cookie. "They were just wondering why I had fainted."

"Oh?" Draco looked over at her, his eyes curious. "And why did you faint?"

Ginny swallowed another piece of cookie and looked at him sharply. "You know why," she said silently.

Draco's face became downcast. "Oh," he simply said and went back to eating. Ginny frowned and looked down at her cookie. She didn't know why, but she found his reaction to why she fainted odd, since he should have guessed it anyways.

Draco suddenly leaned over and pulled her face to his, kissing her on the lips. What they didn't know was, at that moment, Pansy Parkinson suddenly chose to walk into the room at that moment. And the thing that would most likely haunt both Draco and Ginny for a long time is what she chose to do about this information. She hid herself behind the doorframe and peered around, watching the couple kiss passionately. Draco had never treated Pansy the way she wanted to be treated, and here he was, with his family's enemy's daughter, being all gentle and nice and holding the girl the way Pansy had wanted him to hold her. She vowed that the pair would pay for this.

She snuck off, and as the couple kissed, oblivious to what was about to happen, the storm outside raged on, the howling winds washing over the castle walls and the snow piling high on rooftops and window sills.


	21. The Baby Identity

**The Baby Identity**

Lorelai: Aren't baby shower balloons supposed to reflect the sex of the baby? Blue for boys, pink for girls.

Rory: You would think.

Lorelai: What's green for, aliens? (Gilmore Girls: Take the Devilled Eggs)

The snow blew this way and that, and as Draco and Ginny finally came up for air, Ginny was a lot happier than she had been going in to the kiss. She almost felt invicible somehow, like nothing, not even the Fab Three and their impending talk, could bring her down. Too bad she couldn't keep that feeling forever.

The rest of that night, Ginny and Draco stayed in the Tower talking. Ginny remembered the present (a large statue of a green dragon, roaring fiercely and guarding his treasure) and brought it out for him, happily presenting it to him and making him feel a little embarassed as he hadn't gotten her a present. She took pleasure in his embarassment, since it seemed that no one could embarass a Malfoy.

They kissed some more and by the time it was 1 am, the pair finally decided it was time to go to bed. Draco blew out all the candles and picked up his dragon while Ginny picked up all her bags and her yet-unfinished coffee (surprising, even for her) and towed them towards the door. Draco caught up with her and they walked down the Tower stairs together. They crept through the halls, whispering about what they were going to do the next day, cautiously avoiding Filch and his cat. When it came time to part, they had another kiss. A bit prolonged, perhaps, but Ginny finally made it to Gryffindor Tower and had somehow avoided the 'talk' with Hermione, Harry and Ron. She hurried through the empty common room, up to her dorm where she put her bags down and her coffee on the bedside table before collapsing on her bed and finally falling asleep.

Nearly a month passed without incident. Hermione was busy ignoring Ginny and doing her homework while Ron and Harry cast furtive glances towards Ginny's general direction. She began to find this annoying as the few people who knew about her situation and who could help her deal with it were ignoring her. She would often feel kicks from the baby and would desperately want to tell Hermione about it, but would realize that she couldn't anymore. She had alienated her best friends and had found them giving her the cold shoulder. She knew she probably deserved it, but she selfishly wanted them back.

The only person she could confide in these days was Draco, and those meetings were few and far between. Being a grade ahead of her, he had different classes and more work. The other Slytherins and his position as captain on his Quidditch team kept him busy most nights. And she herself had many appointments with Madam Pomfrey to check how the baby was doing.

The stress of it all was more than she could handle. She ate for two people, she had nightmares every second night (despite the tonic Madam Pomfrey gave her), her best friend probably hated her, her only brother at Hogwarts was ignoring her, the father of the baby was out of the picture, her boyfriend was too busy to see her, and her homework load was that of an average Sixth Year: way too much, even though the teachers did everything they could to help her out without tipping her pregnancy off to the other students. She cried frequently because of this and there was nobody there to soothe her.

"Hullo, Miss Weasley," greeted Madam Pomfrey cheerfully one night as Ginny came through the door for her checkup. "How are you today?"

"Fine, thanks," Ginny lied as Madam Pomfrey led her into the nurse's private examination room. The nurse drew the blinds closed and Ginny sat on the bed in the corner. Madam Pomfrey began hooking her up to an ultrasound monitor the nurse had stashed away in a cupboard.

First, Madam Pomfrey checked her pulse, her blood pressure, and her eyes, ears, and throat. Then, Ginny unbuttoned the bottom of her top and lay on the bed. Madam Pomfrey lifted the illusion spell placed on Ginny to make her look her normal size and her stomach ballooned to the size of a large watermelon. The nurse applied a weird-coloured, very cold ointment to her belly and began pressing a weird stick to her stomach while looking at the screen of the ultrasound monitor.

"What is this anyway?" Ginny asked, frowning at the monitor in confusion.

"Oh, it's an instrument them Muggles use for looking at babies in the womb," Madam Pomfrey told her, frighteningly cheery. "This is the first time I've been able to use it, though. Professor Dumbledore spent nearly two months looking for an enchantment to run it here without that, um-- eklicity?"

"Electricity," Ginny corrected, remembering Hermione's lessons on Muggles from the previous summer.

"Yes, that's the word," Madam Pomfrey agreed. She turned her head back to the monitor and began outlining the black and white image that was there. She pointed out the head, the hands, the feet, the eyes and the sex organ. It was in this way, with Madam Pomfrey's head stuck in a book detailing what the picture should show, that Ginny finally found out that the baby was a girl.

Where her mother had sons at first, Ginny's first child was to be a girl. And this girl was going to be special. She hoped that the girl would have red hair, like her own, and maybe Harry's eyes. She could just see it: a year from now, helping her little girl dress in cute little dresses, putting braids or pigtails in her hair, going to a Muggle zoo or visiting the Burrow. She could feel joy bubbling up inside of her from that picture. Suddenly, she couldn't wait to have the baby.

She barely noticed Madam Pomfrey telling her to take a day off school to relax and bring her stress level down. She barely saw the nurse moving the ultrasound monitor back into the cupboard it came from. She didn't even notice the illusion being placed on her stomach again or Madam Pomfrey shoving a nightmare tonic into her hands.

When she left the hospital wing, she paused and murmured to the silent hall, "I'm going to have a girl." She could hardly hide her smile, she was so excited. She squeaked happily and hurried off to the kitchens for a bedtime snack.

But, of course, she barely noticed a certain Slytherin, standing in the shadows of the corridor, a look of confusion on her usually smug face. And so it begins...

**A/N: Don't mind that ultrasound monitor. I know it's not suppose to be there, but I couldn't figure out any other way to write this part in without it.**

**Also, anybody got suggestions for baby names for the girl? Would really love suggestions!**


	22. The Evil Plan, Part II

A/N: The name-game has finally ended. I thank all of ya for adding a name or two to your reviews and I also want to say sorry for making y'all wait so long for Chp22. blushes All I can say in my defense is that I was busy... going insane. Kidding!

I hope you like this chapter (although I think it's going to be a little different than the others.)

**The Evil Plan, Part II**

DEAN: Rory.

RORY: Well, Lorelai technically.

DEAN: Lorelai. I like that.

RORY: It's my mother's name, too. She named me after herself. She was lying in the hospital thinking about how men name boys after themselves all the time, you know, so why couldn't women? She says her feminism just kind of took over. Though personally I think a lot of Demerol also went into that decision. (Gilmore Girls: Pilot)

* * *

After that little tidbit of information in the corridor outside the hospital wing, Pansy did everything she could to get more. She followed Ginny almost everywhere and listened in on the girl's conversations. She wanted more proof of a pregnancy than a simple statement about going to have a girl. She pulled all of the stops short of giving Draco a lapdance for information or using Veritaserum on Ginny.

The proof that she found was a diary: Ginny's diary. After reading her mother's diary about her experience of having Bill in her last year at Hogwarts, Ginny decided that she should keep her own diary of her experiences having her first child. She never really used it before until her fight with the Trio and until Madam Pomfrey suggested that it might be good for stress release. After checking the diary out to make sure that she wouldn't a Tom Riddle repeat, she began using it. And it seemed to work.

Ginny took it with her wherever she went, just in case there was something she felt she needed to say that could not be repeated later on. She always kept it in her back pack, but today she was carrying it in her arms with her schoolbooks to her next class, which she was already late for.

She hurried down the hall, careful not to slip on the floor, when she turned a corner and there was Pansy, with her own books in hand. They slammed right into each other and books went flying.

Ginny mentally cursed and bent down to gather her books. Pansy did the same, all the while muttering under her breath about what a freak show Ginny was. Ginny ignored her and took her books in one arm and promptly stalked off, leaving Pansy, who was still collecting her own books.

"Freak," Pansy heckled purposefully, watching the back of Ginny walk away. She left her books as a pile on the floor though and waited until Ginny had already turned another corner. The last of Ginny's footsteps died away and only then did Pansy feel safe to do what she did next.

Under the pile of schoolbooks lying on the floor was a diary, carefully hidden in case Ginny realized it was missing right away and came back looking for it. It was a small book with a burgundy cover and could easily be told apart from the Hogwarts textbooks.

Feeling relief flood into her from finally finding her proof, Pansy put her books into a neat pile and walked away with them in her arms, the diary tucked into her schoolbag. She skipped the class she was supposed to be in and ran off to the Slytherin dormitories where she laid on her bed and began to read.

After she had read the whole diary through, she looked up, briefly wondering what she should do. She could almost see the faces of that Weasley girl and of Draco's when she would announce that Weasley was pregnant, and the thought made her smirk.

She got up and began to plan.

* * *

Later that night, Ginny was cudled up on the couch in the Astronomy Tower, underneath a blanket and reading a book. She tried to ignore the ominous feeling beginning to pool in the bottom of her stomach and tried to concentrate on the words on the page, but they just seemed like a pool of ink she couldn't absorb.

She sighed in frustration, and snapped the book shut. Her eyes fell on the cover where a beautiful design in dark greens surrounded a handsome man whose eyes glowed garnet red. She suddenly realized that this had been given to her by Hermione. She then remembered that Hermione still wasn't talking to her and on impulse threw the book across the room where it landed by the door.

The door opened, emitting Draco through. He looked down as he nearly stepped on the book and bent down to retrieve it.

"No," Ginny called to him. He looked up expectantly. "Leave it there."

His eyebrows shot up, but he didn't ask her any questions and stepped over the book to join her on the couch. They kissed, and Ginny was thankful that they had found each other. She knew it was corny, but she needed him, she needed him more than she could say.

"Nice to see you, stranger," she greeted, forcing her lips to turn into a sweet smile that she knew he couldn't resist.

"Yeah, it's nice to be seen by you," Draco replied back to her, pulling her towards him. He looked back to the book. "I assume you're angry at the book?"

"No, just at--" she paused, thinking at what she should say. Draco didn't know that she was still on bad terms with Hermione and the others and she didn't know what he would say. So, instead, she finished, "Mood swings. Besides, the book was a little too mushy for me anyways."

Draco smiled, a charming smile that warmed her to her toes. They kissed again, holding on for minutes, before Ginny decided to pull back.

"So, I went to the nurse's the other day," she told him, giving him an excited grin.

Draco looked at her curiously, a grin turning the corners of his own mouth as she practically bounced in her spot for joy. "What did she say?"

"I'm going to have a girl!" she exclaimed. Draco looked surprised, and she scowled at him. "Don't tell me you were expecting a boy?"

"Well, Potter seems like the type to have a boy," Draco told her defensively. "Plus, you have so many brothers..."

"I take offence to that," she said, pouting. "I wanted a girl anyways, so your opinion doesn't matter at this point." Draco snorted. "But I wanted to ask you for a different opinion: what do you think I should name her?"

Draco leaned back, and looked at her. He seemed to become very serious when he replied. "I'm not the father, Gin," he told her. "I don't exactly get a say in the matter."

"Then, pretend you're the father and tell me what you think," Ginny persisted, trying not to let the fact that he was right get her down.

"Gin, come on," he said, his grey eyes boring into her eyes. "Potter should be the one picking out baby names with you, not me. Ask him."

At that, her smile faltered. She looked down at her hands and quietly said, "I can't."

Draco looked shocked. "Why not? I thought... I thought you had talked to Potter since that incident at Christmas."

She got up, suddenly feeling agitated. She had the urge to scream at the top of her lungs, but she didn't think that would go well with Draco in the room. Instead, she yelled, "Of course I haven't talked to Harry since Christmas!"

Draco watched her intently as she began to pace around the room, nearly wringing her hands in frustration. His expression became a mask she couldn't read, so instead she turned away from him and kept walking.

Suddenly, he got up and caught her in mid-pace, holding her tightly. She looked up, surprised. Then, he said, "Chloe. Chloe's a good name."

She smiled, happiness filling her once again. She said it out loud to test the feel of the name on her tongue. "Chloe... I like it."

She smiled broadly, and he smiled back before pulling her in for a kiss.


	23. Interlude

A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I didn't realize it was so long, but I was just kind of stuck in frustration a little at how it was turning out.

The next part might be a little out of character, but I hope you guys like it. Vanessa Carlton's song The Wreckage provides the lyrics around the story. The song might be a little over dramatic but it fits... kind of.

**Interlude**

_Speeding into the horizon  
Dreaming of the sirens  
Wishing for broken glass on a highway  
It could be so easy_

She was crying. Positively bawling. She had never been so horrified in all her life. The looks that she had seen…

She should have known that this would happen. She had been so happy for a moment that she should have known that this would happen eventually. That her world would come crashing down… again… in one simple moment.

Outside, the gentle falling of snow had turned to a drowning rain. The windows beside her fogged as she leaned close to it, as if trying to push herself farther away. If only she could melt through the glass and fly away to a dream world, then none of this would have happened. She wouldn't be here crying because she was pregnant. She wouldn't be "dating" Draco Malfoy, ex-future Mr. Evil Man. She wouldn't be at odds with Hermione and Harry. She wouldn't have seen the horror on their faces when…

She leaned her head against the cold glass. If only it could give way. Her eyes stung and she couldn't breathe out of her nose. The glamour to hide the pregnancy was undone and her legs were straight, her already huge belly projecting outwards. She sniffed and laid a hand on her stomach. There was no answer.

The Astronomy Tower was empty and silent. She was completely alone. And she had never been so terrified in her life.

_The rhythm, rhythm of an engine  
Always makes me empty  
See the headlights coming at me  
Can't help but wonder_

A wave of whispers swept across the Great Hall. Hermione looked up at the whispers, frowning. When nothing immediate happened, she went back to her book. _The English Patient_ by Michael Ondaatje. A very well written Muggle book with beautiful language. She could fall into this language, it was so beautiful. But then she heard the flurry of whispers again. She looked up and narrowed her eyes.

A large group of Slytherins were knotted around the Slytherin table in one area in particular. Some were laughing, their laughs high and menacing. The other tables were looking at the Slytherin table worriedly. And then one of the Slytherins broke the circle, running to a person in another table. Through the gap in the crowd Hermione could see Pansy, her eyes dancing. Something was happening. Something bad.

The Slytherin that had broken free whispered something to one of the Ravenclaws, who gasped and turned to the person sitting beside her. Within a second, whatever had been spoken was being passed to the Hufflepuff table. Hermione narrowed her eyes. Then a Hufflepuff ran to the Gryffindors and whispered something into someone else's ear. That someone suddenly laughed out loud and turned to look down the table. Looking down the table at where Ginny was.

"What the hell is happening?" Harry asked, his voice low. He looked a little trapped and fatalistic. Which led Hermione to think of one thing…

"Oh no," Hermione gasped.

"What?" Ron asked. He didn't seem to be paying any attention, his eyes on the magazine in front of him.

"Ginny…" Hermione left the sentence off to hang, figuring Ron would get the picture.

But Ron only asked, "What about Ginny?"

"Ron, you idiot, they know," Harry hissed.

Ron looked up, surprised. "How?"

A person leaned into Ginny, sneering something. Hermione was far away, but she could see the glittering in Ginny's eyes. Ginny jumped up from the table and ran for the door, amidst laughing from the other students.

"Don't care," Hermione said, jumping out of her spot at the table. She gathered her books and began running for the door.

"Hermione, where you going?"

"Stay there!" she yelled back, not even bothering to see if the boys had heard her. She had to do this alone.

_Flying, flying in slow motion  
The wind through my hair  
And ripping through the scenery  
Of the wreckage  
It is my secret need_

She had no idea where Ginny was. She had no idea how she would find her. She only knew that she had to find her. Somewhere in this castle was a girl breaking down, and no matter how far she and Ginny had been for the past few months, she had to find her. Up a flight of stairs, down a long corridor, past the teacher's lounge, through a tapestry and up another flight of stairs. She could hear rain hitting windows like drums being beaten. She had to find her.

She had no idea how long it took. She heard a tiny muffled sound that could have been crying and made her way towards it. She ended up in the Astrology Tower on the uppermost floor. The door opened soundlessly at her hands and she spotted Ginny leaning against a window, sobbing softly. The glamour had disappeared and Hermione could finally see how pregnant Ginny was.

Without meaning to, she said, "Wow."

Ginny jumped. She whipped around, at least as much as she could while being pregnant, and looked at Hermione. "What?" she asked softly. Her voice sounded a little wary.

She opened and closed her mouth, trying to make her words soft. "I didn't realize how pregnant you were," Hermione finally said. She closed her mouth to keep from gawking like a silly schoolgirl.

"Eight months and counting," Ginny said, turning back around to get back into a comfortable position. Hermione walked over to where Ginny was sitting and sat down on the floor beside her. She gave her a soft smile. Ginny looked out the window, sniffing, not returning the smile. Hermione frowned, looking down at her shoes. She sighed.

"I was worried about you, Ginny," Hermione said.

"I'm fine," Ginny said curtly. From her tone, Hermione could hear the wariness like a knife.

"I didn't mean now," Hermione said. Ginny looked at her curiously. "I meant before Christmas. I didn't mean to gang up on you like that. I was just worried for you and for the baby. You had disappeared for so long and hadn't been talking to us, so I thought that maybe something bad had happened. And I guess I overreacted." She looked up at Ginny, searching her face for any emotion. There was nothing. "I'm sorry."

Ginny started crying again. In between sobs, she said, "I'm sorry too. I had wanted to approach you guys so many times, I just didn't know how to do it. I felt so alone."

Hermione went to her knees and hugged Ginny close to her. She continued to sob into Hermione's shoulder, and Hermione rubbed her back, making soothing noises. "It's okay," she whispered. "Everything's going to be fine." She pulled back and wiped Ginny's eyes. "Everything is going to be fine. This baby will be the most beautiful baby in the world. And she will be so loved."

Ginny continued to sob uncontrollably and Hermione pulled her back into the hug, rocking her back and forth, making soothing noises, rubbing her back.

Ginny suddenly spluttered, doubling forward. Hermione let go and pulled back fast, looking to see what was wrong. Ginny was holding her side tightly.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, shocked.

Ginny grimaced and doubled forward again, still holding her side. "I don't know…" Ginny panted, scrunching her nose up in pain. She moaned painfully. She suddenly grabbed Hermione's arm. "Hermione… this could be…"

"Oh no," Hermione whispered. "We gotta get you to the Hospital Wing."


	24. Alone Again

A/N: Hey, everyone! I was gonna wait for this chapter to upload on Fiction Alley before posting it here, but it's taking a long time.

Very sorry to everyone who has waited and waited and waited for a chapter than almost never came. I have finally gotten back onto the horse and started continuing this story. I hope this is somewhat what everyone was expecting. If not, tell me what you think. And the next chapter may be written soon.

**Alone Again**

**

* * *

**  
LORELAI: Okay, this is a big pain and I'd really like it to go away, please.

NURSE: Just breathe deep, honey.

LORELAI: Breathing doesn't help, can I hit you instead? (Gilmore Girls: Dear Emily and Richard)

* * *

Her water broke, soaking her skirt and the bottom of her robes. All thoughts of her secret being revealed to the school flew out of Ginny's mind as she struggled to get up. All she could think about now was having the baby. She was finally going to have it. Harry's baby. No, her baby.

A jolt of pain sliced through her innards, making her gasp. She nearly fell back onto the ledge she had been sitting on when Hermione's hands flew out, grabbing her arms. With a grimace, Hermione kept her upright and the pair slowly stood up together.

"C'mon," Hermione breathed unsteadily. "We have to get you to the hospital wing."

"Yeah," Ginny mumbled, wincing as another shot of pain seemed to rip through her side. Hermione began to pull her to the door of the Astronomy Tower, which only caused more pain to sear through her. What the hell was happening?

"Wait!" Ginny cried out to Hermione, trying to desperately pull from her grasp. "Wait."

Hermione obediently stopped, arms still clutching Ginny tightly, not letting go. She looked at Ginny in concern, brows knitting together. "What's wrong?" she finally asked, as if unable to deduce for herself the answer.

'Oh, so many things,' Ginny thought bitterly. Another shot of pain sliced through her and Ginny panicked. Something didn't feel right. Granted, she had never had a baby before so she didn't know exactly what was supposed to happen, but she was sure something was wrong. And that scared the hell out of her.

Suddenly, she was sobbing again. And this time, it wasn't because the school had finally found out she was pregnant. This time, it was because she was afraid. Afraid that the baby was going to die. Afraid that she wouldn't be able to handle the baby. Afraid that nothing would turn out right in the end.

Hermione's face peered into hers, even more concerned. "What's wrong, Gin?" she asked again, anxiety etched into her voice.

"I feel like… something's wrong," Ginny sobbed out. She doubled over in pain and Hermione struggled to keep her from falling down.

"I'm sure it's just the contractions," Hermione assured her.

"It feels really bad," Ginny whispered. "I feel like something is tearing me apart from the inside."

"Okay, we really need to get you to the hospital wing," Hermione said anxiously. She began to pull Ginny slowly forward again. "Madam Pomfrey will be able to help you. She'll know what to do. Can you walk?"

"I'm not sure," Ginny half-sobbed, holding tightly onto Hermione and inching forward slowly. She gasped as more pain flooded through her. "Hermione!" she panicked. "I don't want to lose my baby!"

"You're not going to lose the baby," Hermione said, reassuring again.

"Yes, I am, I can feel it," Ginny sobbed. More pain flooded through her and she let out a scream.

"Oh my God," Hermione breathed. She gave up trying to bring Ginny to the door and held her friend, rubbing her back and making soothing noises. But she was just as frightened.

"I really need to sit down," Ginny mumbled.

Hermione nodded and guided her towards the couch. Once Ginny was seated, Hermione threw a blanket over her legs before running to the door.

"Where are you going?" Ginny shrieked.

"I'm gonna go get some help," Hermione told her. "Stay there!"

Hermione flew out the door as Ginny weakly said, "No." She was then left alone to a cold room, pain constantly shooting through her belly.

Hermione flew through the halls, looking desperately around for a teacher. Any teacher. She could feel panic rise at the back of her throat when, after running for several minutes, she came in contact with almost no one. She was becoming so desperate that she would have gladly went to Peeves the poltergeist for help, though the chances of him giving her help were pretty slim in the first place.

She had made it to the foyer outside the Great Hall, nearly half way across the castle from the hospital wing and halfway across the castle from the Astronomy Tower where Ginny was. Students were beginning to spill out of the Great Hall, many looking closely at her. She came to a stop in the middle of the tide of students, peering into the Great Hall for a teacher, her heart pounding wildly. Most of the teachers were still at the staff table.

Feeling enormously let down, she looked through the crowd for Harry and Ron but had no glimpse of bright red hair. Exiting students bumped into her, forcing her farther away from the doors. Feeling bitter annoyance at all of these students who had made fun of Ginny, she tried to push through them into the Great Hall to no effect.

Then, she spotted a taller robbed figure coming her way and felt her heart lift in happiness. She let the students push her back out into the foyer and waited patiently for the figure to reach her, but then she noticed who it was and her heart fell.

She decided to ask the teacher anyways.

"Professor Snape!" Hermione yelled to him. He had been turning towards the stairs to the dungeons when she called, and he stiffly turned back. "Professor Snape, Ginny's…"

Hot tears streaked down her face. She didn't want to lose the baby. More than anything else in the world, she didn't want to lose her unborn child. But fear gripped her tightly, making the pain worse. All she could think about were those constant dreams of her losing her baby. It felt as if those dreams were actually coming true.

The pain stopped. Ginny stopped sobbing, her brain working furiously at why. She held her breath, waiting for the moment when the pain would come back full force, but it didn't come. It was as if nothing had happened.

She looked up at the door expectantly, but no one came through. She remembered Hermione's instructions: "Stay". Should she? When her baby's life was at stake, should she obey instructions?

Resolutely, she threw the blanket off her and uneasily got up, her very large stomach leading the way. She opened the door, clutching it for support, and looked down the stairs. No one was there.

One by one she took the steps. One by one she went down, clutching at the railing as if her life depended on it. She could hardly see where she was putting her feet, so she went slow. The last thing she wanted was to fall down the stairs to her and her baby's untimely death.

When she had neared the bottom, a pale face suddenly appeared out of the shadows of the entrance to the main castle. She watched in silence as Draco Malfoy stared up at her, clearly dumbfounded.

"Whoa," he breathed, gazing at her expansive belly.

"That seems to be the consensus today," she told him quietly, remembering what had just happened in the Great Hall. Idly, she wondered why he was there. Was he going to suddenly realize that he was dating a Weasley, who was pregnant, and turn tail and run for it? Was he going to laugh at her for being what she was?

He moved closer to her and turned her face towards him, concern flitting through his eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked. "You look like you've been crying."

"I'm about to have the baby," she told him, her voice carefully neutral.

To say that he was shocked would have been an understatement. "Are you kidding?" he asked, watching her like a hawk.

When she realized that he wanted her to say that she was kidding, she quickly lost her patience and sneered, "Why, yes, Draco. I am kidding. Because these stabbing pains that I've been experiencing couldn't possibly mean that I'm giving birth."

He stared up at her, face carefully blank. Then, he gently took her arm and began to guide her down the rest of the stairs, face still impassive. When she was safely at the bottom, he hooked an arm around her and guided her into the main part of the castle. Impressed, she let him guide her, putting all her trust into the guy she used to hate with a passion.

Ahead of the pair, Professor Snape and Hermione rounded a corner, Hermione yelling, "Ginny!" When they were closer to the unlikely pair, Hermione noticed who it was holding Ginny and yelled, "Malfoy, I swear to God, if you don't get away from her—"

"Relax, Granger," Draco hissed as Hermione pulled her want out and brandished it at him.

Ginny hadn't had the chance to tell Hermione about her and Draco and was about to cut in on Hermione's next words when a burst of pain freshly shot through her. She cried out, doubling over, and Draco was now the one struggling to keep Ginny upright.

"Shit," Draco cursed as he was nearly pulled down to the floor by Ginny. Hermione jumped to Ginny's other side and helped her stand up.

"We need to put her on the stretcher," came Snape's suddenly patient and gentle voice, gesturing to the already-conjured stretcher in the air next to him.

Hermione and Draco obediently pulled Ginny up ad onto the stretcher. Snape adjusted the stretcher so hat half was nearly vertical to allow Ginny to lean back against it, sitting. Which was good, because she didn't think she could lie down at the moment with pains shooting through her.

The stretcher began to move, and Ginny held on as if for dear life. Snape must have noticed as he said, "Try to relax, Miss Weasley. And breathe."

Hermione chimed in from Ginny's right side. "Yes, you should concentrate on breathing. Breathe slowly…"

The trip to the hospital wing was a blur as Ginny tried to follow Hermione's breathing instructions. She barely noticed the throngs of people gathering around her as Snape led the foursome through the halls and to the hospital wing. She could only think about the coming birth and what it was probably going to feel like. She barely noticed Madam Pomfrey usher her and Snape into the hospital wing while Draco and Hermione were told to wait outside.

And when the doors to the wing closed again and she was left with only Madam Pomfrey, she realized she was truly alone.


End file.
